Some gazing at the sky, and learning opportunities, with a free afternoon of astronomy-related events for kids and adults this Saturday, April 20. A former Montana State University student who is now a lead engineer for the Mars Curiosity rover and a scientist from the James Webb Space Telescope will be speaking. Join in at the Museum of the Rockies from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and all Astronomy Day 2013 activities, including admission to the museum, are free that afternoon. Exhibits in the main lobby will feature activities, information and give-aways from NASA missions and MSU researchers. Kids' activities include Mars Volcano Erupt!, Life Cycle of a Star Bookmark, and Edible Mars Rover. The planetarium show is Big Sky Tonight. Angela Des Jardins, director of Montana Space Grant Consortium, will begin the afternoon presentations at 1 p.m. At 1:10 p.m., Amber Straughn, lead scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope education and public outreach program, will present "Beyond Hubble: A New Era of Astronomy with the James Webb Space Telescope."

At 3 p.m., MSU alumnus Jaime Waydo, who is now a Curiosity rover mobility engineer, will present "Curiosity's Science: What is the Mars Rover Doing, and What Have We Learned?"

An autograph session with both Straughn and Waydo takes place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Astronomy Day is sponsored by the Museum of the Rockies, Montana Space Grant Consortium, Space Public Outreach Team, Monforton School Foundation, Southwest Montana Astronomical Society and Montana State University's Physics Department, Optical Technology Center, Extended University and Astrobiology and Life in Extreme Environments (ALEE) program.

For more information visit http://eu.montana.edu/AstronomyDay/

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Astronomy Day at Museum of the Rockies Saturday