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Love space? Natural sciences museum lines up free, educational activities at Astronomy Days

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, the annual event will offer up everything from telescope crafts and solar observing to rocket launches and special presentations for space enthusiasts of all ages. The event at the downtown Raleigh museum is free.

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Hubble in Orbit

The skies will be the focus at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences' Astronomy Days this weekend.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, the annual event will offer up everything from telescope crafts and solar observing to rocket launches and special presentations for space enthusiasts of all ages. The event at the downtown Raleigh museum is free and will feature talks from astronaut Doug Wheelock.

During the event, visitors also can:

  • Discover the wonders of deep space as you learn about different telescopes - from Hubble to the new James Webb Space Telescope.
  • Create and take home your own mini Hubble.
  • See what it is like to be on the surface of Mars with the Curiosity rover in the museum's Virtual Reality experience.
  • Discover the unknown universe along with PhD Comics creator Jorge Cham and physics professor Daniel Whiteson.
  • Gaze at the 40-foot working models of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.
  • Peer at the Sun (safely) through solar telescopes provided by the Raleigh Astronomy Club.

All visitors can make and blast off their own bottle rocket on the museum plaza, find out how much they weigh on different moons and planets and meet live animals of the constellations (such as the bearded dragon, which represents the constellation Draco).

The museum's website has more information about Astronomy Days. While you're there, you also can check out the museum's new special exhibit Mazes & Brain Games.

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