Amazing interest

While I'm with you regarding my sediments (sic) regarding this event, I do
understand, intellectually, the feeling that you're watching something that
has happened so long ago that no one alive remembers the last time it
happened. However, since the west coast of the US gets to see most of the
next one in 2012, and since it IS only a dot slowly traversing the face of
the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing. Same with the first
total eclipse of the century, or the last one for the last century for that
matter.

--
Sincerely,
--- Dave

----------------------------------------------------------------------
A man is a god in ruins.
--- Duke Ellington
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"skypilot" wrote in message
...
I think it's almost laughable at how people can get so charged up over
a large dot moving in front of the sun. I can just imagine the many
who spend hours looking at the Venus dot. I spent about 10 minutes on
the internet and it was the same old dot no matter where in the world
it was seen.

David Nakamoto wrote:

While I'm with you regarding my sediments (sic) regarding this event, I do
understand, intellectually, the feeling that you're watching something that
has happened so long ago that no one alive remembers the last time it
happened. However, since the west coast of the US gets to see most of the
next one in 2012, and since it IS only a dot slowly traversing the face of
the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing. Same with the first
total eclipse of the century, or the last one for the last century for that
matter.

I don't know what's worse--this guy's troll or that someone actually
seriously seems to agree with him...

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...

the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing.


I don't know what's worse--this guy's troll or that someone actually
seriously seems to agree with him...


Not sure why it's offensive to agree with a guy who doesn't think a transit
is a big deal.

It might be the same old same old; one guy's fantastic once-in-a-lifetime
sight is another's yawn, and it's no good convincing the other side
otherwise, no matter which side of the fence you're on. I just happened to
sincerely agree with the original poster and that this whole event is a yawn
to me, much like meteor showers (100 or so an hour is about one per minute,
big deal) and other things. Different strokes for different folks. The
only thing Greg may be guilty of is putting me on the same level as a troll,
when I sincerely and honestly stated my lack of enthusiasm, unlike a real
troll. But he obviously thinks a Venus transit is a worthwhile thing to
make the effort and money expenditure and go out and see it. I don't.

The whole Venus transit hype, for me, is simply due to the rarity of the
event, but there are a lot of things in the world you might only get one
chance to see, and don't take it because it isn't high on your priority
list. I've seen a transit of the Sun by Mercury, and the Venus transit
shows a dark spot that take longer and is a little larger, so in my mind big
deal.
--
Sincerely,
--- Dave

----------------------------------------------------------------------
A man is a god in ruins.
--- Duke Ellington
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...

the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing.


I don't know what's worse--this guy's troll or that someone actually
seriously seems to agree with him...


Not sure why it's offensive to agree with a guy who doesn't think a
transit
is a big deal.

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:20:13 GMT, "David Nakamoto" wrote:

It might be the same old same old; one guy's fantastic once-in-a-lifetime
sight is another's yawn, and it's no good convincing the other side
otherwise, no matter which side of the fence you're on. I just happened to
sincerely agree with the original poster and that this whole event is a yawn
to me, much like meteor showers (100 or so an hour is about one per minute,
big deal) and other things. Different strokes for different folks. The
only thing Greg may be guilty of is putting me on the same level as a troll,
when I sincerely and honestly stated my lack of enthusiasm, unlike a real
troll. But he obviously thinks a Venus transit is a worthwhile thing to
make the effort and money expenditure and go out and see it. I don't.

The whole Venus transit hype, for me, is simply due to the rarity of the
event, but there are a lot of things in the world you might only get one
chance to see, and don't take it because it isn't high on your priority
list. I've seen a transit of the Sun by Mercury, and the Venus transit
shows a dark spot that take longer and is a little larger, so in my mind big
deal.

I agree. For me, a transit is no big deal. I watched the Mercury transit in
1999, and it was sort of neat, but that's about it. When the next Venus transit
comes around in 8 years and is visible from my home, I'll certainly make an
effort to image it (I should be able to pick up an Ha filter, 20MP camera, and
100mm refractor for around $500 by then, right? g) This isn't something I'd
travel anywhere to see. I find the historical element of a Venus transit much
more interesting than the actual view. None of which is intended in any way at
all to put down those who find such an event exciting- we are all interested in
different things, after all.

What I really appreciated about this transit is the wide publicity it received
in the popular media. Anything that serves to expose the general public to
astronomical ideas is a Good Thing.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

The whole Venus transit hype, for me, is simply due to the rarity of the
event, but there are a lot of things in the world you might only get one
chance to see, and don't take it because it isn't high on your priority
list. I've seen a transit of the Sun by Mercury, and the Venus transit
shows a dark spot that take longer and is a little larger, so in my mind big
deal.

For those of us on the west coast this event was a non-occurance and it is
really quite difficult to know how you or I would have reacted had we been on
the east coast or Europe.

There is a lot that goes into an event like this, the anticipation and
excitement that builds for months as one prepares for it, the energy spent
deciding on the ideal site and equipment, and then indeed the actual event
itself, lots going on here.

For those of us who were not in a favorable location, we were not part of the
PARTY so my guess is that to us, the Venus transit seems about like a Super
Bowl celebration when the other guys won, just not much emotional content.

But the evidence seems to be that everyone who actually witnessed the transit
was impressed beyond expectation.

I am quite sure had the transit been visable from San Diego, I would have been
ready and waiting with cameras in hand, scopes setup and ready to go.

I think this is just one of those things, if you weren't there, it is hard to
understand what the attraction is.

Jon

In message , David Nakamoto
writes

troll. But he obviously thinks a Venus transit is a worthwhile thing to
make the effort and money expenditure and go out and see it. I don't.

Depends how much effort it takes. A mylar filter on your binoculars or
small scope will hardly break the bank. The larger spot size of Venus
was much more striking than the Mercury transit last year.

The whole Venus transit hype, for me, is simply due to the rarity of the
event, but there are a lot of things in the world you might only get one
chance to see, and don't take it because it isn't high on your priority
list. I've seen a transit of the Sun by Mercury, and the Venus transit
shows a dark spot that take longer and is a little larger, so in my mind big
deal.

William Crabtree observed the first predicted transit of Venus across
the sun in 1639 from my home town, Salford. So I am probably biassed.
His house is long gone but there is a small plaque on a wall in Higher
Broughton to celebrate this fact erected by members of the local
astronomical society. Solar transits originally provided a very
accurate way to measure the solar system and the start of the
astronomical distance ladder.

From my current location in N Yorks unfortunately there was high cloud
and I was clouded out for both ingress and egress. It was worth
watching. Towards the end conditions deteriorated to a point where it
was hard to determine even if the sun was circular!

However, interviewed on the BBC the majority of the general public
expressed supreme indifference to it. The most erudite comment being
something like "Yeah err well err its err nature innit" (sic.)

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

I'm not the only one, at least among those I've talked to, and there have
been plenty in my club I've talked to about this.

And yes, I wasn't that thrilled when Mercury does the same thing a few years
back, in case you were wondering, and I did see that one. Why, I don't
know.
--
Sincerely,
--- Dave

----------------------------------------------------------------------
A man is a god in ruins.
--- Duke Ellington
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...
David Nakamoto wrote:

While I'm with you regarding my sediments (sic) regarding this event, I
do
understand, intellectually, the feeling that you're watching something
that
has happened so long ago that no one alive remembers the last time it
happened. However, since the west coast of the US gets to see most of
the
next one in 2012, and since it IS only a dot slowly traversing the face
of
the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing. Same with the first
total eclipse of the century, or the last one for the last century for
that
matter.

I don't know what's worse--this guy's troll or that someone actually
seriously seems to agree with him...

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...
David Nakamoto wrote:

While I'm with you regarding my sediments (sic) regarding this event, I
do
understand, intellectually, the feeling that you're watching something
that
has happened so long ago that no one alive remembers the last time it
happened. However, since the west coast of the US gets to see most of
the
next one in 2012, and since it IS only a dot slowly traversing the face
of
the Sun, I'm not too gung ho in seeing this thing. Same with the first
total eclipse of the century, or the last one for the last century for
that
matter.

I don't know what's worse--this guy's troll or that someone actually
seriously seems to agree with him...

The real laughable thing here as I see it is the people who take offence to
someones innocuous
opinion. Some people need a big reality check in this free speech world.

Oncologist wrote:
The real laughable thing here as I see it is the people who take offence to
someones innocuous
opinion. Some people need a big reality check in this free speech world.

And some prople should stop reading so much into what they read...