Thursday August 13th Ponca City Astronomy will hold it's monthly meeting in the Art Studio of the Ponca City RecPlex, located at Grand Avenue and Waverly. There will be a Meet and Greet starting at 6:30 PM and the meeting will start at 7:00 PM. The meetings are free and open to the public. At this meeting we will discuss our participation in this year's Veterans Day event. We will also discuss the Sun and the start of Solar Cycle number 25 which is due to start sometime in the next few months. You need not be a scientist to attend these meetings only to have an interest in astronomy.

Membership in Ponca City Astronomy is Free, there are no initiation fees nor dues, all it costs is some of your time and your interest. It is open to people of all ages however some of our events require transportation and younger people may need to rely on their parents or guardians for transportation. Our mission is to inspire an interest in astronomy and educate our members as well as the public about astronomy. We endeavour to meet this mission through monthly educational meetings, public "Sidewalk Astronomy" events and "Dark Sky Observing" (DSO) parties.

Ponca City Astronomy will hold two "Sidewalk Astronomy" events in August. On August 28th there will be an event at the Ponca City RecPlex starting at 6:30 PM. Telescopes will be set up on the sidewalk out front of the RecPlex allowing the public to come view the Moon through powerful telescopes. Actually viewing the moon with it's craters and mountains through a telescope is much more interesting than just looking at a photo. Also available will be Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter will show it's cloud bands and four of it's moons can be seen. Saturn and it's rings are also visible. This event is available to people of all ages and it is free, all it costs is a few minutes of your time. In addition there will be another event on August 29th held at the entrance of Lake Ponca Campground on the east side of the East Lake, also starting at 6:30 PM. These events will end around 9:00 PM but will continue as long as there are people there to look through the telescopes.