There will be no regular meeting of the Ogden Astronomical Society held at Weber State this month. It was decided by the executive committee that the Monte Cristo event would serve in its stead. The September "Annual Meeting" will be held on September 11, 1997. Watch for further information in next month's Star Diagonal.

The next public star party at Antelope Island is scheduled for this Saturday August 9, 1997. If the past couple of events are any example, this too should be a lot of fun for O.A.S. members and the public.

This late in the season, bugs are not a factor. Members are invited to come early and set up to observe the sun or test your skills on day time observing of planets and stars, (talk to Jim McCormick for details).

Tell the state ranger at the gate you are an O.A.S. member and the entrance fee is waived. As in the past, the park entrance closes at 10:00 p.m. By you can leave anytime via the automatic gate. Follow the yellow signs to White Rock Bay. Call Steve, Elgie or Bob for further details.

This year's forth and final Harmon's public star party is scheduled for Saturday August 16, 1997. Members can set up their equipment and show off your astronomical skills for the public in the parking lot of the Roy Harmon's store before dusk on that evening.

The last Harmon's event in Ogden was a surprising success. A unique crowd of interested people made for a successful star party. In spite of the obviously limited seeing, the moon and a couple of bright planets gave way to the oooh's and aaah's that make these events so worth while.

Join the members in Roy on the 16th for this year's final up-town event.

Club President, Steve Peterson, has contacted and selected the three O.A.S. members to serve on this year's Nominating Committee for the F.Y. 1997-98 club officers. The September issue of the Star Diagonal will carry the names of members nominated, by the committee, for the four positions. Elections will take place at the September 11 meeting.

The committee is anxious to hear from O.A.S. members who are willing to take the time to hold and administer a position in the club. Volunteer your time and your ideas by contacting them before they contact you. New ideas for club events and activities are needed and are always welcome. This is the way you, the O.A.S. member, can have the needed influence on the future of our association. For the committee members names, call Steve Peterson at 393-6227.

For the past twelve months your Executive Committee has attempted to produce interesting meetings and enjoyable public and private events for the club members. It is our sincere hope that we have been successful. We are looking forward to newer and better things. Get involved.

Dr. John Sohl has a few video tape sets left of the first two weeks of news conferences and first steps of the Sojourner rover from the Mars Pathfinder mission.

These consist of two video tapes and John is providing them to O.A.S. members at cost; $8.00. Call John at 476-0588 (home) or 626-7907 (work).

On August 7^th , Jupiter rises at 20:34 MDT and transits at 1:36. By September 6^th it rises at 18:26 and transits at 23:24. One of the best times to observe the outer planets, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn is during their transit of the meridian, not because they are closest to Earth (they usually are not), but because their altitude is at a relative maximum at this time. When these planets are near opposition, the situation is even better. For Jupiter, opposition occurs on August 9^th. This year Jupiter will be about one degree below the ecliptic at opposition so will not be at its best. The best oppositions for northern observers occur during the winter months when the ecliptic is far above the horizon.

The GRS or Great Red Spot on Jupiter will be one "surface" feature to look for this month. A better name, perhaps, would be the GPS or Great Pink Spot so that those seeing it for the first time would not be disappointed. I have picked the night of August 9^th as an opportunity to view the GRS, because other events will be coincident with the spot's arrival at Jupiter's meridian. Incidentally, the GRS is not a fixed cloud feature and drifts east and west slightly while maintaining the same latitude in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. All predictions regarding the spot's location will be based on the most currently published longitude (60). On August 9^th, the GRS should transit Jupiter's central meridian at 23:10 MDT.

The other action that evening involve Jupiter's moons Europa and Io. Europa will begin to transit Jupiter at 21:06 MDT with its shadow following one minute later. While Europa is still moving from east to west across the face of Jove, Io will be approaching the western edge to the giant planet and will be occulted by Jupiter at 23:18. Due to Jupiter's atmosphere, this occultation will progress more slowly than a stellar occultation by the Moon. A little more than a half hour later, at 23:57, Europa's transit will end with its shadow disappearing two minutes later. Figure 1 shows the positions of the GRS, Europa and its shadow and Io around 23:10. The view through your telescope will differ depending on its type. For a refractor without a star diagonal, simply turn this page upside down.

For a different kind of event involving Jupiter and one of its moons, observe Callisto as it emerges from Jupiter's shadow on August 10^th . The entire event lasts 11 minutes from 21:35 to 21:46. This event will occur very close to Jupiter's east (celestial) side, just above the Jovian equator. When it has completely returned to sunlight, Callisto will shine at magnitude 5.3. While this return of Callisto is progressing, look also for Io and its shadow nearly dead-center on Jupiter.

We have been observing Venus (a horizon hugger this apparition) as an evening "star" for the past couple of months. She is joined by Mercury in early August. Both planets will be well past quadrature on the evening of August 7^th , swinging back to the west heading for inferior conjunction with the Sun. On the 7^th , look for Mercury 7.22 southwest of Venus. Mercury will be 26.7 from the Sun, which sets at 20:31. Venus will appear as a gibbous disk 12.7" across while Mercury will be a thick crescent measuring just 8.7" from tip to tip. Figure 2 shows the phase and relative size of these inner neighbors.

Mars grows smaller but is now more massive with the addition of Sojourner and Rover. On the 7^th of August Mars can be found a bit less than 3 east of Spica. Mars sets at 23:19 on the 7^th and by 21:16 on September 6^th, becoming increasingly more difficult to find in the Sun's glare.

On August 11 at 22:52 MDT the Moon will occult magnitude 5.4 star (Eta) Libra. The Moon will be slightly gibbous (8.89 days old) so will have plenty of dark leading edge to produce an interesting effect as it snuffs out Eta's light. Another occultation of Aldebaran will occur this month, but this one will be a daytime event. Aldebaran is bright enough to be easily seen in the daytime and the Moon will help you locate it. The occultation occurs on the morning of August 25^th at 11:17, so look for Aldebaran a few minutes earlier when the 0.8 magnitude star is just off the Moon's sunlit leading edge about 38 above the Lunar equator. When this occultation occurs the Moon will be in the southwest sky about 40 above the horizon.

For those who enjoy searching for the "young" Moon, look almost due west, ~ 4 above the horizon at 19:54 on the 2^nd of September. By no means in record territory, the 1.09 day-old crescent Moon will be a naked-eye challenge, but an easy binocular find.

It's surprising to me that hardly anyone at star parties, including we OAS'ers make an attempt to find Uranus and Neptune. And I must admit this colorful duo are usually the last objects I seek. Is it because most think they are too difficult to find, too small or perhaps just don't compare to the other planets?

If so, all of these reasons are not well founded. They are in fact easy to locate (especially true for Uranus). Lacking detail, they are not unlike Venus or Mercury if you disregard the latter's phases. They certainly have color. When I show this pair to star party visitors, I always ask them what color they see for each. Invariably the unprejudiced answer is "blue". After closer examination, they usually see that Uranus is green-blue while Neptune remains definitely blue.

True, they present small disks....but they are definitely not stellar pinpoints of light. They are both well worth the effort. Figure 3 above shows their locations (Telrad superimposed) relative to Capricorn on the night of August 22^nd. Next time out, give 'em a try.