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(meteorobs) General Public and Sky Perception
Lew and All,
I'm glad a brief change of discussion has occurred and it's one that I feel
deserves a little further "exploration". Last month as I was driving to
Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the annual airshow, I was getting tired and decided to
stop at a rest-stop on IH-80 in Eastern Iowa. When I got out of the car, I
noticed there were some picnic tables in a clearing just past the
"facilities". The rest room bulding blocked the light from the Interstate
(however, it was Sunday night so traffic was light anyway). When I reached
the picnic tables and looked up, I gasped, "My God".... I've NEVER EVER seen
the sky so clearly before, even in Colorado. All of those factors you
mentioned Lew, humidity, density altituded, ambient light, etc, must have been
at their optimum for sky observation. It looked like the "Milky" part of the
Milky Way became resolved to my unaided eyes. I wanted to, and should have
stayed for at least several hours, but I had to get "back on the road again".
Talk about a revelation!
I'm wondering now if there might be long-term detrimental effects insidiously
occurring to the human race, since 99.99999% of our species NEVER get to see
the sky the way it really is.
Maj Dave Garrison, USAF Ret
F4DEG@aol.com
San Antonio, TX
PS - I just wanted to say this too, I must thank whoever it was (Lew,
probably) that formulated the Meteorobs Group and put it on the net. The fact
that I can carry on a personal discussion with a Professor of Astronomy at The
University of Beijing (Jin Zhu) continues to blow me away.