April Fools APOD: Missing the Joke?

I just applied!!

I'll let you know if I get selected, thanks for the heads up.

Francis Marion

In a related story:


In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2
that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to
occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational
alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore
told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment
that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange
floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds
of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One
woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their
chairs and floated around the room.
Comments

In a related story:


In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2
that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to
occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational
alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore
told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment
that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange
floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds
of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One
woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their
chairs and floated around the room.
Comments

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2
that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to
occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational
alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore
told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment
that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange
floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds
of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One
woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their
chairs and floated around the room.
Comments

Those of us in the US, being on the opposite side of the planet, experienced
an opposite effect. I stepped on the scales at the exact moment, and found
for the duration of the transit, my weight increased approximately 37.317639
%. Fortunately it was all lost when Pluto reappeared. However even with the
uncertainties involved with the weight scale, this would not have been
enough (if applied in the opposite direction) to have cause me to float
around the room. So we must discount the one woman's story.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Lunar Picture of the Day http://www.lpod.org/
************************************

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2
that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to
occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational
alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore
told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment
that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange
floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds
of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One
woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their
chairs and floated around the room.
Comments

Those of us in the US, being on the opposite side of the planet, experienced
an opposite effect. I stepped on the scales at the exact moment, and found
for the duration of the transit, my weight increased approximately 37.317639
%. Fortunately it was all lost when Pluto reappeared. However even with the
uncertainties involved with the weight scale, this would not have been
enough (if applied in the opposite direction) to have cause me to float
around the room. So we must discount the one woman's story.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Lunar Picture of the Day http://www.lpod.org/
************************************