Activities happen all afternoon and into the night, with lectures, craft workshops and, of course, stargazing with more than 50 large telescopes.

"What we can see here in medium-sized telescopes takes huge research telescopes elsewhere," said Kevin Poe, a "Dark Ranger" who will help conduct activities through the festival. "Because the skies are so dark here, you don't need giant telescopes to see spectacular stuff."

He's also excited about the festival's keynote speaker, Story Musgrave. The astronaut, who has accumulated 1,280 orbit hours, was just featured on Discovery Channel's When We Left Earth series Sunday, focusing on Musgrave's mission to fix the Hubble Telescope. He will speak on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at the Triple-C Arena in Panguitch. Admission is $2 per person or $5 for a family, and all tickets will be sold at the door.

Wednesday night will have stargazing in Panguitch, and the rest of the week's activities will be in Bryce Canyon. From May to September, the park has astronomy programs on Wednesday and Friday nights. But during the festival, the amateur Salt Lake Astronomical Society has loaned the park several of its telescopes, many of which are larger than the park's eight.

"We have so many things going on that no matter what your interest is, we will have something there that will capture it," said Ann House, the society's vice president.

She also encourages people who are making last-minute plans to look for hotel rooms in Tropic or Panguitch, as most hotels and campgrounds in Bryce Canyon are already taken.

Other than the Musgrave speech, admission to Astronomy Festival activities is free with admission to Bryce Canyon, which is $25 per car, good for seven days.

"For anyone who's ever been interested in our astronomy stuff we do down here, this is a great week for it," Poe said. "You can see a living legend, and afterward enjoy some spectacular darkness."

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/brca or call 435-834-5322.

smcfarland@sltrib.com