Re: *** HILAL SIGHTING (Crescent Moon) Shaban 1425 AH, Evening of Tue/Wed 14/15 Sep 2004 CE ***

From: DonJan (don.janeczko_at_itt.com)
Date: 09/17/04 

Date: 17 Sep 2004 06:28:19 -0700

Chris L Peterson <clp@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote in message news:<57kfk0dsuf52511e5nn5b6ntd8q9i1aom8@4ax.com>...
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 04:55:48 GMT, Zark <Zark@Karz.com> wrote:
>
> >Then why the crossposting to irrelevant newsgroups?
> >Sure, some of the people in these groups may be astronomers, and
> >some may be muslims, but for at least two of the newsgroups this
> >post is marginally on topic at best.
>
> Which ones?
>
> sci.astro - lots of astronomers, some of whom are interested in when the Moon is
> marginally visible
>
> sci.astro.amateur - same
>
> sci.astro.planetarium - same, and this is material is both scientifically and
> culturally interesting for anybody designing planetarium shows
>
> sci.optics - the first and last times of Moon visibility are strongly influenced
> by atmospheric refraction, scatter, and other optical phenomena, as well as the
> optical properties of the eye itself.
>
> sci.physics - same
>
> I simply see no grounds to complain about the posting of this material on these
> groups. It is fairly topical, and of interest to at least a minority of members
> of each. It is pretty obvious that some people get upset just because the
> motivation of the poster in collecting this data happens to be religious.
>
> I've certainly got no respect for Islam. Or Christianity or any other baseless
> superstition. But that doesn't mean that its adherents can't produce information
> useful to others, and for different purposes. This is a perfect example of that.
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Chris L Peterson
> Cloudbait Observatory
> http://www.cloudbait.com

I would agree that this is of marginal interest. One or two postings is enough.

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