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Transit of Venus--Trying to Get Ready



 
 
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  #11  
Old June 5th 12, 08:23 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Dr J R Stockton[_164_]
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Posts: 5
Default Transit of Venus--Trying to Get Ready

In sci.astro.amateur message , Sun, 3
Jun 2012 20:22:50, Davoud posted:

Hello? Anyone outside the astronomy community heard of this event!? I
have not done a scientific survey but I have mentioned the ToV to more
than a dozen people in various venues, including employees at Parks &
Recreation Departments in three Mid-Atlantic states, and not one person
I talked to had heard of the event. And of those I told about it, not
one was interested.


That indicates the dismal state of your local/national newspapers, their
news collection, and their readership - and similarly for other media.

Conversely, the newspaper that I take published, last Friday, a picture
seven inches by seven, captioned "Sun Spot _Flying_visit_by_Venus_ |
Venus passes across the face of the sun early yesterday, an event not
witnessed since 1882. The phenomenon, which lasted for about six hours,
will next occur in 2117."

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx has a copy.

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQish topics, acronyms, & links.
Proper = 4-line sig. separator as above, a line exactly "-- " (SonOfRFC1036)
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  #12  
Old June 5th 12, 09:50 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Sketcher
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Posts: 291
Default Transit of Venus--Trying to Get Ready

On Jun 4, 12:25Ā*pm, Davoud wrote:

Whoa! I take issue with the notion that Coloradans "live closer to
nature" than some of the rest of us. Pennsylvania and New York both
outrank any state west of the Mississippi in percentage of forest
cover, e.g. (North Central Research Stationā€¹U.S. Forest Service).

Pennsylvania: 55% forest. New York, 51%. Colorado: 18% Ā*(North Central
Research Stationā€¹U.S. Forest Service).

So, it all depends on what you call "close to nature," right? I would
argue that we all live equally close to nature, even Manhattanites, and
that only our awareness of our surroundings varies.


It's easy to selectively take one or more bit of statistical
information and draw whatever conclusion one wants to draw.

For example, if I wanted to I could claim to live closer to nature
(than many in New York or Pennsylvania) because my state has more
forested land than either Pennsylvania or New York (even though my
state lies west of the Missippippi River). I could supplement this
bit of data with another: The population density of New York is about
412 people/sq mi. The population density of Pennsylvania is about 284
people/sq mi. Yet, my state has a population density of about 7
people/sq mi. One more bit of data: I can step outside my front door
on a clear, moonless night and see beyond magnitude 6.0 with the
unaided eye. Do I live close to nature? It's all relative. I'll
save the grizzly bears, mountain lions, etc. for another day ;-)

Meanwhile our (arguably) last opportunity to observe a transit of
Venus is rapidly approaching. I'm likely to have wind and clouds for
the early stages, clearing skies for the middle phase and sun/Venus
set prior to the end of the transit.

OTOH I did manage to get a picture-perfect view of the setting
partially eclipsed moon yesterday morning . . .

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.
(or to summarize a recent article: To sketch is to see the world as
it really is.)
  #13  
Old June 6th 12, 02:29 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
William Hamblen[_3_]
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Posts: 16
Default Transit of Venus--Trying to Get Ready

On 6/4/2012 10:16 AM, uncarollo wrote:
On Jun 3, 7:22 pm, wrote:
Hello? Anyone outside the astronomy community heard of this event!? I
have not done a scientific survey but I have mentioned the ToV to more
than a dozen people in various venues, including employees at Parks&
Recreation Departments in three Mid-Atlantic states, and not one person
I talked to had heard of the event. And of those I told about it, not
one was interested.

I have talked to two families from Arizona (Phoenix and Tempe) who did
not know about the recent annular solar eclipse until they saw TV video
(Phoenix) or an Internet report (Tempe) after the event.

I have no idea what this says about the media, American curiosity, or
the price of poodle puppies, but it doesn't seem quite right to me.
There are a hell of a lot of sciences about which I know nothing
whatsoever, but chances are if some big or widely anticipated event is
happening in that science I will have heard about it, even if I elect
not to tune in or I tune in and don't understand it all. I kind of
thought that the same would be true of other members of the
public--aware, at least, even if not greatly interested or lacking in
expertise.
usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm


We're going to have a Venus party here at our factory. We'll have
scopes set up, both white light and H-alpha, along with wine and
cheese for those who will attend. We sent out notices to everybody we
know and have gotten quite good response. In fact our dance club will
attend this event - goes to show ya that even something as polar
opposite to science as dance can be of interest to these people.

We have a number of employees who are amateur astronomers, and they
will not be attending our event. Instead, they are each going to
spearhead other public events in various places across town - to local
parks, to a local church, etc. In that way they are multiplying the
outreach effort, so to speak.

On the other hand in talking to my own mother, who knows that I'm into
astronomy, she didn't have a clue that Venus would transit the sun,
and in fact did not know what that means, did not know that Venus is
one of the solar system planets, and even after explaining to her how
Venus orbits around the sun, still had no idea what i was talking
about. Of course I should hand her some slack since she is 88 years
old.

Uncarollo


The Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Parks and Recreation
Department was certainly aware and had transit of Venus events planned
at several parks. The Fairview City Parks Department had an event at
their Bowie Nature Park. Altogether there were 12 public events in
Middle Tennessee. The event at the Sudekum Planetarium drew about 3,000
visitors.

Bud

  #14  
Old June 6th 12, 08:07 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Dr J R Stockton[_164_]
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Posts: 5
Default Transit of Venus--Trying to Get Ready

In sci.astro.amateur message
n.invalid, Tue, 5 Jun 2012 20:23:57, Dr J R Stockton reply1223@merlyn.
demon.co.uk.not.invalid posted:

In sci.astro.amateur message , Sun, 3
Jun 2012 20:22:50, Davoud posted:

Hello? Anyone outside the astronomy community heard of this event!? I
have not done a scientific survey but I have mentioned the ToV to more
than a dozen people in various venues, including employees at Parks &
Recreation Departments in three Mid-Atlantic states, and not one person
I talked to had heard of the event. And of those I told about it, not
one was interested.


That indicates the dismal state of your local/national newspapers, their
news collection, and their readership - and similarly for other media.

Conversely, the newspaper that I take published, last Friday, a picture
seven inches by seven, captioned "Sun Spot _Flying_visit_by_Venus_ |
Venus passes across the face of the sun early yesterday, an event not
witnessed since 1882. The phenomenon, which lasted for about six hours,
will next occur in 2117."

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx has a copy.


at http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdis...ssue=119020120
60100000000001001&page=18&article=dd0e13b2-54e9-4edd-b474-ddfead
d17e2b&key=8tS6vNPeB3l9fFHnS5XtaA%3D%3D&fe ed=rss

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQish topics, acronyms, & links.
 




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