Astronomy Day 2009 at the Museum of the Rockies

Four-hundred years ago Galileo Galilei began using telescopes to examine objects that were located in the sky. Immediately he made important discoveries: the Moon’s craters and mountains, moons revolving around Jupiter, dark spots on the Sun, phases of Venus, etc. The year 2009 has been named the International Year of Astronomy and commemorates the beginning of a new science ushered in by Galileo himself. The public is invited to join the Southwest Montana Astronomical Society, the Museum of the Rockies, the Montana Space Grant Consortium, the Solar Physics Research Group of Montana State University, and the SPIE Student Chapter of Montana State University, during Astronomy Day on April 4^th to participate in the celebration.

Planned activities include: planetarium shows, a number of presentations that will cover exciting subjects ranging from ‘Astronauts and Aliens’ to ‘Crow Indian Perspectives on the Night Sky’. A telescope exhibit will showcase many astronomical types of equipment and the Sun can be observed from the plaza entrance to the Museum (weather permitting). A fun children’s program will be offered and also a live demo on Internet astronomy will occur.

Astronomy Day will take place at the Museum of the Rockies from 1:00 to 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 4, 2009. The day’s events and Museum admission will be FREE to the public. For more information please view the ‘Astronomy Day 2009‘ section of this website for a more detailed agenda.