NPR’s Skunk Bear YouTube channel has recently become one of my favorite YouTube channels. The latest video published on the channel is a 360° video that explains how to find the constellations that are visible in the summer night sky over North America. Because the video is a 360° video you can pan through the video to follow the instructions that are given in the video. You can do that by using your mouse and clicking in the video, holding and dragging in the video on your phone or tablet, or by moving your head while watching the video in a Google Cardboard viewer. Skunk Bear also has a corresponding PDF of directions that you can download (link opens PDF).

In addition to teaching viewers how to identify the constellations the video explains a bit of the history associated with each constellation’s name.

Applications for Education

It is a beautiful evening for star gazing as I write this. My kids are in bed, but when they’re a little older we’ll be outside trying to identify the constellations over us on summer nights. A video like this one will be helpful in that endeavor. Likewise, the SkyView augmented reality app can help you identify constellations wherever you are in the world.