Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory at the University of Colorado at Boulder will hold Astronomy Day activities including rocket launches, sunspot viewing and demonstrations of planetarium and observatory equipment on Saturday, April 19, from noon to 10 p.m.
"We are actually celebrating Astronomy Day a little early this year," said Sanlyn Buxner, an education specialist for Fiske Planetarium. The national day of celebration will be May 10, which is after CU-Boulder commencement, she said. "We wanted to do our celebration before students leave for the summer."
Astronomy Day is intended to bring astronomy to the public and is an annual event celebrated at planetariums and astronomy clubs around the world. All of the activities at the planetarium and observatory on April 19 are free and open to the public.
Visitors will get to walk through the planetarium's exhibit "Hubble Space Telescope: Images and Instruments," view planets through telescopes in broad daylight and take part in various science experiments. They also will get to launch water rockets on the CU Business Field, across from the planetarium.
"It's an opportunity for us to go all out to get people excited about astronomy and space science," Buxner said.
During the day, weather permitting, visitors will be able to look at sunspots using the Sommers-Bausch Observatory's heliostat - a specialized solar telescope that transfers the sun's light via a series of mirrors and lenses and projects it on a flat surface for safe viewing.Ìý
Between noon and 5 p.m., visitors can view live demonstrations in the planetarium highlighting the visible sky, which will be created by the planetarium's projection system. The planetarium also will have a free presentation of "Colorado Skies," from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The 16-, 18- and 24-inch telescopes at Sommers-Bausch Observatory will be available for use until 10 p.m. In the evening, weather permitting, visitors will be able to see Mercury, which is best viewed from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., Saturn, Jupiter and many other "deep sky" objects.
Fiske Planetarium hosts monthly live shows given by numerous experts from CU-Boulder, and provides weekly star shows, family matinees and laser shows.
Fiske Planetarium is located on Regent Drive and Kittredge Loop Drive on the CU-Boulder campus. Sommers-Bausch Observatory is adjacent to the planetarium.
For more information on upcoming planetarium shows or other programs call (303) 492-5002 or visit the Web site at or the observatory's Web site at .