best questions at star parties?

Before people get offended, I've got to emphasize that this post was not
consciously inspired by any question asked recently on SAA.

Well, you all know what the story is. You set up your telescope at your
club's public star party, and before you can get Albireo centered in the
field of view, someone has come up and asked you The Dumb Question of
the Night. The Dumb Question of the Night is that question that makes
you want to put your telescope back in your car and drive home and
observe in peace. It might be about anything at all, but after you've
been asked The Dumb Question of the Night, you want to smack someone.

But I don't want to ask about The--err, DQN. I'm wondering about those
wonderful questions, the ones you get asked when you *think* the DQN is
coming, the ones that make you think, or get you excited about telling
folks about what you're seeing. These, too, might be about anything:
they might be about the physics of what you're looking at, or maybe the
history of its discovery and observation, its significance in cultural
affairs, or what kind of telescope you've made, or how you find objects
in the sky.

One night, the BQN--Best Question of the Night--was a boy who, after
taking a look at Saturn in the eyepiece and giving the usual, "Wow, you
can see the rings! They're small, though. But you can see the rings!"
offered the following question:

"Where did the rings come from?"

Now, that is a Grade AA question, especially for a child, because it
means that he's figured out the possibility that Saturn didn't always
have to have rings. Even we often think of the rings as being intrinsic
to Saturn, but of course they aren't. OK, so how did they come into
being? Our best guess is that tidal forces either broke up a satellite,
or prevented one from forming--well and good, now how do you explain
that to a 10-year-old, even a bright one, without overwhelming him with
inverse cube laws and Roche limits? How do you explain how gravity can
actually pull things apart, in 10-year-old terms?

That's one of mine. Everyone will have different BQNs, because we don't
all have the same pet interests. Mine are physics and optics, so my
BQNs tend to fall along those lines, but ATMers will have different
ones, and planetary specialists will have others, and so on.

So, what are some of your Best Questions of the Night?

--
Brian Tung
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.html

Brian Tung:

You set up your telescope at your club's public star party, and before
you can get Albireo centered in the field of view, someone has come
up and asked you The Dumb Question of the Night.

I really don't get that many dumb questions; few enough that none comes
to mind at the moment.

So, what are some of your Best Questions of the Night?

"I read that Jupiter is made of gas, so we can't land a space ship on
it. If we can't land on it, how do we know what it's made of?"

"Oh! I've heard of the Red Spot. What is it?"

"How far away is that?" "How do you know it's that far?"

"I read that the Solar System is X billion years old. How do they know
that?"

*****

Sentimental favorites, lunar and planetary division:

1. Your telescope [Questar Duplex] doesn't show those red and blue
clouds around the planet/moon [like that 18" Dob does]. Is that because
it's smaller?

2. "Wow! Why does this little telescope [Questar Duplex] have a better
picture than that big one [18" Dob]?"

"What do you mean by 'better?'"

"I mean it stands out better and you can see stuff on the planet."

"Yes, but it is a smaller 'picture.'"

"I like the way it's sharper and easier to see the details."

"I guess maybe my little telescope has a better mirror than that big
one, or something."

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Strangest one:

Passerby: What are you doing?
Me: Looking at stars.
Passerby: Can you see the points on them?





On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:59:02 -0700 (PDT), (Brian Tung)
wrote:

SNIP

So, what are some of your Best Questions of the Night?

The only question I hate is "How much did that cost?"

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:
The only question I hate is "How much did that cost?"

My answer to that one is, first, "It's not for sale."

Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org

So, what are some of your Best Questions of the Night?

How come even after you magnify it a bazillion times, it still
looks a tiny spot? (speaking of stars)

How can you know how far away it is?

and my favorite: Has it always been that beautiful?

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon? If so, try
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

If you enjoy optics, try
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATM_Optics_Software/
*********************************************

The worst DQN that makes you want to smack the person into another galaxy
is:

"I didn't know that you were into ASTROLOGY".

Another DCN (Dumb Comment of the Night) that I get when I am observing with
my 10 inch Teleport DOB is:

That does not even look like a telescope!

Another DCN that I get when observing with my AP Traveler is:

I thought telescopes are supposed to be longer than that!

Another DCN:

Are you sure that is really Saturn and that you haven't taped a picture of
Saturn to the lens?

BQN from newbies:

What is that bright star over there?
In this case they are usually pointing at Jupiter or Venus.

How far is the nearest star and how long would it take to get there?

Why do start twinkle?

Can you see the flag on the moon?

Many folks may think this is a dumb question, but for folks that don't have
any astronomy experience, it is an intelligent question since they do not
understand the resolving power of a telescope.

How much power does that thing have and how far can you see with it?

This is the time that you explain Dawes Limit to them in terms that they can
understand.

I always never forget to educate folks about light pollution and explain to
then what the sky would have looked like at the time that their grandfather
was a boy. This is a good way of getting them to think about unnecessary or
improperly designed outdoor lighting.

Clear Skies,

-mij




"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
Before people get offended, I've got to emphasize that this post was not
consciously inspired by any question asked recently on SAA.

Well, you all know what the story is. You set up your telescope at your
club's public star party, and before you can get Albireo centered in the
field of view, someone has come up and asked you The Dumb Question of
the Night. The Dumb Question of the Night is that question that makes
you want to put your telescope back in your car and drive home and
observe in peace. It might be about anything at all, but after you've
been asked The Dumb Question of the Night, you want to smack someone.

But I don't want to ask about The--err, DQN. I'm wondering about those
wonderful questions, the ones you get asked when you *think* the DQN is
coming, the ones that make you think, or get you excited about telling
folks about what you're seeing. These, too, might be about anything:
they might be about the physics of what you're looking at, or maybe the
history of its discovery and observation, its significance in cultural
affairs, or what kind of telescope you've made, or how you find objects
in the sky.

One night, the BQN--Best Question of the Night--was a boy who, after
taking a look at Saturn in the eyepiece and giving the usual, "Wow, you
can see the rings! They're small, though. But you can see the rings!"
offered the following question:

"Where did the rings come from?"

Now, that is a Grade AA question, especially for a child, because it
means that he's figured out the possibility that Saturn didn't always
have to have rings. Even we often think of the rings as being intrinsic
to Saturn, but of course they aren't. OK, so how did they come into
being? Our best guess is that tidal forces either broke up a satellite,
or prevented one from forming--well and good, now how do you explain
that to a 10-year-old, even a bright one, without overwhelming him with
inverse cube laws and Roche limits? How do you explain how gravity can
actually pull things apart, in 10-year-old terms?

That's one of mine. Everyone will have different BQNs, because we don't
all have the same pet interests. Mine are physics and optics, so my
BQNs tend to fall along those lines, but ATMers will have different
ones, and planetary specialists will have others, and so on.

So, what are some of your Best Questions of the Night?

--
Brian Tung
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.html

That is always a question. When you tell them, they almost fall over and
tell me what an expensive hobby that is; yet they think nothing about
dropping $300 to play golf several or more times per month. Makes you
wonder...

"Mean Mr Mustard" wrote in message
oups.com...
The only question I hate is "How much did that cost?"

Where's Ophucus and Scrotum?

Good thread. I enjoy the questions at star parties. Some are very good
like: "The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, so when we see the Milky Way
in the sky are we looking from one spiral arm into another?" I wasn't
sure and that was my answer. I've learned not to be "Mr. Expert" about
things I'm not certain of.

But on the other end of the scale the most amazing question was when a
man pointed up and asked "Is that the moon?" The moon was bright and
clearly visible in the direction he pointed. The man didn't seem drunk
or mentally impaired just sincerely unsure and a little embarrassed to
ask.