Sky’s the Limit on Astronomy Day

National Astronomy Day will be celebrated around the country Saturday. The Griffith Observatory will mark the event with open house festivities throughout the day and a star party in the evening.

Tours of the triple-beam solar telescope, not normally open to the public, will be offered during the day and the large Zeiss telescope will be open for daytime viewing of Venus.

At night, members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Sidewalk Astronomers will set up telescopes on the front lawn to view the moon and Jupiter in a public star party that will run until 10 p.m.

In addition, regularly scheduled planetarium programs will continue, including “Voyage to the Planets” at 1:30 p.m., the only program to which children under 5 will be admitted, and “Hubble’s Quest,” the planetarium feature program at 3, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Call (213) 664-1191.

OTHER ASTRONOMY EVENTS

* On Friday, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will offer two views of the sky with “In the Moon’s Shadow,” the Gladwin Planetarium program about the annular solar eclipse May 10 and “Exploring Leo, the Lion,” a telescope observation outside the Palmer Observatory. Both programs begin at 8 p.m. Call (805) 682-3224.

* On Monday, the Los Angeles Public Library, in conjunction with the Sidewalk Astronomers, will sponsor a daytime telescope solar observation at the Chinatown library branch on College Street at 3:30 p.m. Call (213) 620-0925. Two public star parties will be held that evening, at the Little Tokyo and El Sereno branches, from 6 to 8. Call Little Tokyo at (213) 612-0525; El Sereno at (213) 225-9201.

BOTANY

* Nature docent Sylvia McKensie will discuss “Native American Uses of California Native Plants” at the monthly meeting of the California Native Plant Society, Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains chapter tonight at 7:30 at the Brentwood Magnet School Auditorium. Call (213) 933-8993.

* The Palm Springs Desert Museum will sponsor a natural science symposium, “Adaptations of Desert Plants,” at the Annenberg Theater, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call (619) 325-7186.

* The natural science section of the Sierra Club, Los Angeles chapter, will host an outing highlighting spring wildflowers on Saturday at the Earthside Nature Center in Pasadena. Naturalist Elna Bakker will lead tours of the two-acre gardens, which feature native plants of California. Meet at the center at 9:30 a.m. Call (818) 796-6115.

SCIENCE FOR FAMILIES

* Several activities will be offered during “Ocean Voyage: Life Under the Sea” at Puente Hills Mall on Saturday and Sunday. Children and adults can examine marine specimens from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and staff from the Los Angeles Children’s Museum will guide children through an “H2O Science Workshop,” featuring experiments on how animals and water are retrieved during oil spills. Rowland Heights library staff will share sea stories with families. Events take place from noon to 3 p.m. Call (818) 965-5875.

* Children 5 and older can learn about the rain forests of Costa Rica with environmental educator Marcus Renner in workshops offered by Kidspace Museum in Pasadena on Sunday at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Call (818) 449-9144.

* Cabrillo Marine Aquarium will offer a “Discovery Center” workshop featuring hands-on experience for all ages Sunday from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Participants will view marine animals under microscopes, handle tide pool creatures and examine marine artifacts such as bones and whale baleen while investigating the local marine environment. Call (310) 548-7562.

ZOOLOGY

* John Laundre of Idaho State University will discuss his long-term mountain lion research project in the Albion Mountains of southern Idaho in a program sponsored by the Los Angeles Zoo and Earthwatch on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the zoo. Call (213) 666-4650, extension 5.

HEALTH

* “The Role of Nutrition in Breast Cancer Recovery” will be discussed by nutritionist Carolyn Katzin at the meeting of Breast Cancer Recovery Plus on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Brotman Wellness Center, adjacent to Brotman Medical Center in Culver City. Call (310) 391-0068 or (310) 479-3846.

ORNITHOLOGY

* Charles Collins will discuss his research on the Santa Cruz Island scrub jay at the monthly meeting of the Los Angeles Audubon Society, tonight at 8 in Plummer Park. Call (213) 876-0202.