This event has completed.

12/10/2021
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

In the late 19th and early 20th century, before women could vote in the United States, and when women were rarely seen or welcomed into academia, Henrietta Swan Leavitt conducted research that led to two of the most surprising and important discoveries in the history of astrophysics. Leavitt performed meticulous analysis of pulsating stars called Cepheid variables. She used these observations to develop a powerful new tool for estimating the distances of stars and galaxies, a crucial advance for understanding the size and evolution of the Universe that astronomers of the day were struggling to accomplish. Astronomers still use her relationship – now generally called Leavitt’s Law – in cosmological research today.

Join us for a one-time, special performance of the play Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson as part of the South Dakota Discovery Center's Learning for the Universe Celebration of the Webb Space Telescope Launch. 

Special features of this performance include a star show using our latest technology, hands-on activities about the Webb Space Telescope and a discussion about Henrietta Leavitt, women in science and the Webb Space telescope. 

Location: Grand Opera House
Doors Open at 6:00 pm with special displays in the Encore Room
Performance is at 7:00 pm
Discussion following the show

This performance is supported in part by a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council and in partnership with Pierre Players Community Theater