Zara Nelsova was known as the Queen of the Cello, but did you know she was from Winnipeg? Learn more about the life of this famous cellist and get a close look at three of her performance gowns in Cortney’s latest video.
Happy Earth Day! Renewable energy is critical to having a healthy planet. Here in Manitoba we have a lot of rivers and stream, which we harness to create hydroelectricity! But how does it work?
Join Mike in the Science Gallery to watch a demo with our hydroelectric generator.
The immersive dioramas at the Manitoba Museum are many people’s favourite part of the Museum. Did you know that five of the classic dioramas were designed and painted by iconic Canadian artist Clarence Tillenius?
Learn more about his process in this video with Erin.
Have you ever seen the beautiful moccasins in the Manitoba Museum galleries and wondered about their creation process? Who made them, who wore them, and where did they travel? Museums are filled with millions of objects and specimens, but it’s the stories behind these items that really matter. Discovering how these stories connect to present-day individuals and communities is truly the best part of my job.
While moccasins may seem ordinary, they preserve cultural heritage and have resisted colonial forces since first contact. As a young girl, I admired how my relatives paired their outfits with braids, beaded earrings, bolo ties, and stunning moccasins. There is an ongoing desire to preserve our cultural identity, even through everyday items like shoes and accessories.
One of our long-time friends and partners is Gloria Beckman, a Nēhîthâwâk artist skilled in many art forms, including moccasin making. Through her workshops, Gloria shares her expertise and passion, helping preserve these vital cultural traditions.
Images: Beautiful pairs of fur-trimmed, beaded moccasins created by workshop leader Gloria Beckman. © Gloria Beckman.
Gloria recently shared that moccasin making is a meditative, community building activity. She expressed that, “The excitement of seeing pahkîkinaskisina (leather footwear) is an intrinsically rewarding experience” that provides us with a sense of belonging.
We are honoured to partner with Gloria for various workshops throughout the year, offering guests the opportunity to create their own hand-made treasures, perhaps to pass down to future generations with love. Workshops also provide a unique experience to explore the techniques and artistry from our ancestors with a behind-the scenes look at artifacts in our collection.
If you are interested in hearing about future workshop opportunities be sure to sign up for our Manitoba Museum e-newsletter!
What goes into preparing a fossil between when it’s found in the field and when it ends up on display or being used for research? In this video, join Fossil Preparator Urgon in the lab to see some of the tools he uses to reveal fossils like the ones on display in our galleries.
When we’re travelling, we may use a compass and map, a GPS, or the position of the sun to guide us home. But how do animals do it?
Join Corinne in this video to learn about the sixth sense of a bee and how it works as internal compass for them while they travel around their world.
It’s Indigenous Languages Day!
In this video, Tashina brings us an update on our upcoming language game, Anishinaabemowin with Amik, and shares some of the images that have been created for it by local artist Micaela Gilbert. To challenge herself, she’s sharing this update in the Anishinaabe language, which she has been learning.
We can’t wait to share this game with you all!
“April showers bring May flowers”, goes the saying, and it’s true that April does often have a lot of rain (or at least clouds) for Manitoba. On clear nights, though, we get a unique view away from our Milky Way galaxy and out into the darkness of intergalactic space. With fewer bright stars to guide you, contemplate the darkness between the stars: that’s what most of the universe is like.
Mercury is technically in the morning sky in April, but the angles dictate that it stays very low to the horizon (and probably invisible) from Manitoba. Southern hemisphere viewers get their best morning views this year of the elusive innermost planet.
Venus has moved between us and the Sun (well, just above the Sun) and is now low in the east before dawn.
Mars is still bright in the evening sky, forming an ever-changing triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini.
Jupiter still shines brightly in the evening sky, high in the southwest after sunset in the constellations of Taurus.
Saturn has moved into the morning sky, but like Mercury it is very low to the horizon and probably invisible from Manitoba until near the end of the month. Saturn will be a summer feature this year, so wait a few months and you’ll get a great view.
Uranus sets very soon after the sun and is not easily observable this month. You’d need at least binoculars, and probably a small telescope, to be able to spot it, and even then it’s so far from Earth that it appears as just a faint “star” in a field of other stars.
Neptune is invisible without a telescope at the best of times, and this month is not the best of times. Neptune is near Venus in the bright twilight sky before sunrise and is unobservable this month.
Of the five known dwarf planets, none are visible with typical backyard telescopes this month.
All times are given in the local time for Manitoba: Central Daylight Time (UTC-5). However, most of these events are visible across Canada at the same local time without adjusting for time zones.
Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025 (evening): The thin crescent Moon is above the Pleiades star cluster in the evening sky. Both with fit comfortably into the field of view of typical household binoculars.
Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 (evening): The thin crescent Moon stands above and to the right of Jupiter in the west after sunset. in the evening sky. You should be able to see both in binoculars at the same time. Look for some tiny dots in a line very close to Jupiter – those are some of its largest moons! Callisto is the one farthest to the right and likely the one most easily seen in binoculars. Good eyesight or higher magnification may show a second dot closer to the bright planet – that’s Ganymede and Europa, which appear right beside each other tonight, merged into a single point.
Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025 (evening): The waxing crescent Moon is about halfway between bright white Jupiter (to its lower right) and reddish Mars (higher and to its left) in the west and southwest after sunset.
Friday, Apr. 4, 2025 (evening): The first-quarter Moon forms an almost-triangle with Mars and the stars Castor and Pollux. From bottom left, we have Mars, Pollux, and Castor.
Saturday, Apr. 5, 2025 (evening): The waxing gibbous Moon is to the left of Mars tonight. Both fit into the field of view of typical binoculars. This is a good chance to compare the reddish colour of Mars with the grey-white tones of the Moon.
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2025 (evening): After weeks of flirting as a triangle, Mars forms an almost-straight line with Castor and Pollux this evening. Nothing significant about this, other than it looks cool from our point of view here on Earth. (Mars is only 185 million kilometers away, while Pollux is 324 billion km and the six stars of the Castor system are 25 trillion km distant. Their apparent alignment is in in two dimensions as seen from this particular corner of the universe.)
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025: Full Moon
Sunday, Apr. 20, 2025: Last Quarter Moon
Monday, Apr. 21, 2025 (evening): Tonight is the peak of the annual Lyrids meteor shower. Beginning around 11 p.m. local time you can expect to see a dozen or so meteors per hour from a dark sky location. The show intensifies after midnight and into the pre-dawn hours of the 22nd. As meteor showers go, this one isn’t at the same level as the Geminids of December or even the Perseids of August, but it’s a nice evening under the stars in cool spring skies before the mosquitoes hatch.
Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025 (morning): The thin crescent moon is visible off to the right of bright Venus in the eastern sky about a half-hour before sunrise.
Friday, Apr. 25, 2025 (morning): The thin crescent Moon has moved to the lower left of Venus. Both are visible in the eastern sky just before dawn.
Sunday, Apr. 27, 2025: New Moon
Tuesday, Apr. 29, 2025 (evening): The crescent Moon reprises its appearance with Jupiter, although this time they are too far apart to fit into the view through binoculars at the same time. The Moon is slightly below and to Jupiter’s right this evening after sunset.
Also tonight, Mars begins its approach to the Beehive star cluster (also known as Messier 44 or M44) in the constellation of Cancer the Crab. While the cluster is just a faint smudge in binoculars, a small telescope shows a few dozen stars. Mars will skirt the northern edge of the cluster during the first week or May, making for interesting pictures for small telescope users.
Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025 (morning): You might be able to glimpse Saturn through binoculars starting today if you’re up early. Start looking about 5:30 am local time. First, find Venus, which is the brightest (and probably only) “star” you will see in the bright twilight glow in the east. Put Venus near the “10 o’clock” position in your binoculars, and then look for a really faint object near the “4 o’clock” position. That’s Saturn. It will likely only be visible for a short window between when it rises and when the sky is too bright to see it/
Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025 (evening): The crescent Moon stands above Jupiter in the western sky after sunset.
Outside of the regular events listed above, there are other things we see in the sky that can’t always be predicted in advance.
Aurora borealis, the northern lights, are becoming a more common sight again as the Sun goes through the maximum of its 11-year cycle of activity. Particles from the Sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and the high upper atmosphere to create glowing curtains of light around the north (and south) magnetic poles of the planet. Manitoba is well-positioned relative to the north magnetic pole to see these displays often, but they still can’t be forecast very far in advance. A site like Space Weather can provide updates on solar activity and aurora forecasts for the next 48 hours. The best way to see the aurora is to spend a lot of time out under the stars, so that you are there when they occur.,
Random meteors (also known as falling or shooting stars) occur every clear night at the rate of about 5-10 per hour. Most people don’t see them because of light pollution from cities, or because they don’t watch the sky uninterrupted for an hour straight. They happen so quickly that a single glance down at your phone or exposure to light can make you miss one.
Satellites are becoming extremely common sights in the hours after sunset and before dawn. Appearing as a moving star that takes a few minutes to cross the sky, they appear seemingly out of nowhere. These range from the International Space Station and Chinese space station Tianhe, which have people living on them full-time, to remote sensing and spy satellites, to burnt-out rocket parts and dead satellites. These can be predicted in advance (or identified after the fact) using a site like Heavens Above by selecting your location.
With the Hudson’s Bay Company being in the news quite a lot lately, some people have expressed concern for the objects in the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection. Join Dr. Amelia Fay in the HBC Gallery to learn a bit more about how this collection came to be here at the Manitoba Museum!
Grizzly bears sighted along the coast of the Hudson Bay have made it into the news in recent years, but did you know they once roamed as far as southern Manitoba too?
Join Dr. Randy Mooi in the museum collection and the Prairies Gallery to learn how we know grizzlies roamed this far southeast.
