Re: Observations about Astronomers
From: Stephen Sherrod (ssherrod_at_bresnan.net)
Date: 12/31/04
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Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 07:18:56 -0700
"Brian Tung" <brian@isi.edu> wrote in message
news:cr2qjm$af6$1@zot.isi.edu...
> Stephen Sherrod wrote:
>> No, it is B-O-L-O-G-N-A, like Oscar Meyer(sp?).
>
> I guess you missed that you wrote W-O-R-S-E for "worst," didn't you?
> And my smiley didn't tip you off?
>
> (By the way, it's Mayer. And the slang term meaning BS is always
> spelled B-A-L-O-N-E-Y, not B-O-L-O-G-N-A.)
I never said I could spell well; I can't.
>
>> Besides, I have been to more star parties than you have.
>
> Oh goodie, the "I'm older than you are, so I know more than you do or
> ever will" argument. If you know that much more than I do, you should
> know that argument is B-O-G-U-S. I will gladly admit that you've been
> to more star parties than I have, I will freely concede that there are
> lots of equipment freaks there, and yet--there are ways to make fruitful
> use of your time at a star party. (Generally, one's first star party is
> not a TSP-type, but a small club-type, anyway. I bet those are usually
> more useful, too.)
No, older sucks! But, I remember about 4-5 years ago when we went around and
around when I indicated that a 5" SCT was a piece of garbage for a primary
scope. So, no arguements here anymore..I'm a friendly guy now. :) As for
the rest on "how to attend a star party", that has been posted here before
in great length. Some of it was even worth reading.
>
>> The famous TSP (7 times there) is about 5%
>> "normal" people at most and 95% equipment freaks running around with
>> propellers on their beanies; I've seen it. Does a "newbie" ask their
>> advice??
>
> No. You ask to try the scope. If they let you, you see what about
> the scope you like, what you don't. You see how easy it is for you to
> focus--does the image shake when you touch the focus knob? If they're
> generous and let you move the scope, you see how easy it is for you to
> find stuff. (If you don't know how to find stuff, perhaps you should
> learn how! <g>) Believe it or not, there's plenty of ways to learn
> stuff about scopes (and about yourself as an observer) other than
> asking owners whether they like their own scope. (As you point out,
> of course they think it's a great scope.)
>
>> The best star party experience is to shut up and watch. It soon becomes
>> obvious who is the one(s) to listen to. How does a person "find out about
>> the user's situation first"?
>
> Gee, I ask a question such as, how much experience do you have? If
> you know the sky at all, what are your skies like? If I have experience,
> I try to make use of it so that I don't give the user completely generic
> advice that doesn't help. But if they are just starting out and don't
> really know what their own situation is, I agree you gotta start
> somewhere.
>
> I'm sure you come by your opinion from the experiences of beginners who
> went to a star party and were bewildered by the owners there and were
> unable to get any useful information. But it's hasty to conclude from
> those experiences that it can't be done at all, if you go about it the
> right way.
>
> Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu>
> The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
> Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
> The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
> My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt
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