Dear Folks, The Utah Astronomy email program has a serious deficiency when copying information: it often jams words together. The actual press release I'm sending out does not have that difficulty. To correct the awful look of the last note, here is a version without the jam-ups. I hope it goes through correctly. -- Joe SALT LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY NEWS RELEASE August public events: star parties, general meeting Aug. 10, 2017 Free public events that the Salt Lake Astronomical Society has scheduled for August promise to be of singular interest, as objects ranging from the spooky Ring Nebula to glorious star clusters are in prime viewing position. In addition, the new Clements Telescope, the world’s largest amateur visual ‘scope, will offer amazing views, including colors of outer-space objects. Ordinary-size telescopes lack the light-gathering power to show color, but with the Clements, visitors can see yellow-gold Saturn, orange in Jupiter’s atmosphere and red giant stars in globular star clusters like M-13. SLAS members also announce a new policy that should be welcomed by anyone who has a telescope and isn’t quite sure how to set it up or find celestial objects with it. Those with questions may arrive at any public star party one hour prior to sunset, and knowledgeable, experienced amateur astronomers with the group will be glad to explain and help with the equipment. Events to which the public is invited this month include: ** Friday, Aug. 11, a star party at Wheeler Farm, 6351 S. 900 East, Salt Lake County, dusk until 11 p.m. ** Saturday, Aug. 12, a star party at the group’s Stansbury Park Observatory Complex (SPOC), Tooele County, featuring four of the most sophisticated publicly-accessible telescopes in Utah. The king of them all is the 35-foot-long Clements Telescope, which was recently installed in its new home at SPOC, the Kolob Observatory. The session is from dusk until 11 p.m. SPOC is about 30 miles west of Salt Lake City. From Utah’s capital, take I-80 west, then turn off at Exit 99, the Tooele-Grantsville exit, going south on Highway 36. Turn right at the third traffic signal onto Stansbury Parkway. Travel west on the Parkway until the sign in the center median labeled “Plaza.” Turn left at the plaza and park in a lot adjacent to the skateboard park. The observatory, with its white dome, is to the right. Many members of the group set up their own telescopes for visitors’ enjoyment at star shows, and will explain the surprising views seen through the eyepieces. All star parties are family-friendly, and are only held when the weather allows. ** The SLAS monthly general meeting, at which Brigham Young University astronomer Michael Joner will discuss exoplanets – planets orbiting distant stars – that he and other team members at BYU discovered. These fascinating and exotic objects are many light-years from Earth. To hear a planet-discoverer tell how it was done will be a treat long cherished by all present. The meeting is scheduled for the Rampton Building, Salt Lake Community College Redwood-Taylorsville campus, near 4600 S. Redwood Road, northeast corner of the campus, 7:30 to 9 p.m. The public is welcome and free parking is available east of the building in the Q lot. Also at the meeting, the club will offer a limited supply of safe eclipse-viewing glasses at $1 a pair. Nobody should look at the partial phase of a solar eclipse without the proper protective glasses, and nobody should use a telescope or binoculars at such times to see the sun without the correct solar filters. ** Thursday, Aug. 24, a special star party is slated for Jordanelle State Park, Hailstone Event Center, dusk until 11 p.m. SLAS Secretary-Treasurer Rodger Fry will guide watchers through an astronomical power-point presentation. The park is located in Heber Valley, Wasatch County. -30- For further information, call Joe Bauman, SLAS vice president, 801-913-3588. Note to media members: if this release reaches the wrong desk, could you please forward it to the right person or persons? Thanks, Joe