Telescope demonstrations, sunspot viewing and the unveiling of several new hands-on exhibits are among the highlights of Astronomy Day, a family-oriented event to be held on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus on Saturday, April 29.
Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory will offer activities and educational presentations from noon to 10 p.m. in the planetarium and observatory. All of the activities at the planetarium and observatory on April 29 are free and open to the public. Visitors also will be able to purchase food and snacks from vendors at the event.
"We will be celebrating Astronomy Day early this year," said Suzanne Traub-Metlay, educational program manager at Fiske Planetarium. The national day of celebration will be May 6.
"Our event is part of a national celebration that gives astronomers an opportunity to share with the public what this field is all about," Traub-Metlay said. "Since the national day falls during finals, we decided to hold our event early."
Throughout the day, talks will be held in Starlab, Fiske's portable planetarium. Segments from many of the planetarium's public shows will be shown in the main theater. Visitors will be able to launch rockets, handle rocks from space and play with sound and light.
Several new hands-on exhibits in Fiske's lobby will be available for the public to try out, including a black-light demonstration and a mid-infrared camera that shows how much heat is emitted by different objects. The exhibits are designed to help visitors understand how astronomers use invisible light -- radio waves, microwaves, infrared and ultraviolet light -- to view the heavens.
Noted children's science book author Jeffrey Bennett will read from his book "Max Goes to Mars." Bennett's previous book, "Max Goes to the Moon," was voted the best children's book in 2004 in the annual Colorado Book Awards contest. The time of the reading was not yet determined.
At the observatory, displays will help visitors learn about telescopes, light, color, spectroscopy and how solar and lunar eclipses occur. Experts also will be on hand to answer general questions about astronomy.
Weather permitting, visitors will be able to look at sunspots using the observatory's solar telescope, called a heliostat. The specialized solar telescope transfers the sun's light via a series of mirrors and lenses and projects it onto a flat surface for safe viewing.
From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. the observatory's 16-, 18- and 24-inch telescopes will be available for the public to use. Saturn will be perfectly located for viewing, according to Keith Gleason, manager of Sommers-Bausch Observatory.
Visitors also can enter a contest for a chance to win a local drawing for a 3.25-inch telescope that is ideal for viewing the moon and bright star clusters, Gleason said. They also can enter a national contest for a chance to win a large telescope from Astronomy magazine.
Members from the Boulder Astronomy and Space Society will be at the observatory to display a wide variety of amateur telescopes, ranging from inexpensive beginner's models to larger versions. They also will hold presentations explaining what to look for when buying a telescope and offer advice to novice astronomers.
For a complete schedule of Astronomy Day events at the planetarium and observatory visit cosmos.colorado.edu/sbo/public/special.html.
For more information call (303) 492-5002 or visit the planetarium's Web site at fiske.colorado.edu/ or the observatory's Web site at cosmos.colorado.edu/sbo.