If the weather cooperates — and that's a large if — the Salt Lake Astronomical Society will resume its free public star shows this weekend.
Tonight's star show is scheduled for the parking lot of the Harmon's grocery store complex at 700 East and 7755 South in Midvale, a city where the National Weather Service has predicted "partly cloudy" conditions. The party should begin about 9:30 p.m., says the group's Tom Sevcik.
"Saturn will hang high in the southern sky, while some of the brighter stars will begin making their appearance," Sevcik said.
On Saturday, the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex in Tooele County is the site, starting around 7:45 p.m.; the forecast for that night is "mostly cloudy."
"Saturday's star party will feature, for the first time at SPOC, a planetarium-style 'Sky Tonight' program," said Patrick Wiggins, a member of the group and a NASA solar system ambassador to Utah.
A projector will beam views of the night sky onto the inside of the dome of the nearly completed facility housing a large refractor telescope, the "Donna Pease Wiggins Refractor House."
In addition, during all public star parties at SPOC, the grounds around the observatories will be a free wireless "hot-spot," courtesy of Beehive Wireless, Wiggins said.
Sevcik said if the weather cooperates, some fine views should be possible at both sessions.
At the Saturday event, Mike Wilson will conduct an interactive presentation about the solar system. Wilson will give participants a chance to help him construct a scale model of the solar system.
Besides the planetarium-style program inside the Refractor House, "SLAS members will have their individual telescopes in all types and sizes lined along the walkway for your viewing pleasure."
Reached after a 35-minute drive from downtown Salt Lake City, SPOC is based at 15 Plaza, Stansbury Park. To visit the site leaving from Utah's capital city, drive west on I-80 to the Stansbury/Tooele Exit, Exit 99. Then follow signs south to Stansbury Park and the observatory.
A detailed map of the route to SPOC is available online at slas.us/images/MAPS/SPOC_Map.gif.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com