AstroRealtor
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/26/08
Posts: 539
Loc: Terra Firma
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We were doing a program at our local Science center and we had a 6" refractor pointed at the Andromeda Galaxy. The Astronomer at the time was also pointing out when The Hubble Space Telescope would be able to be seen as a satelite overhead. As he finished pointing it out and given a brief talk about some of the recent things Hubble had imaged, one patron asked "what are the chances of hubble crashing into any of the objects it is looking at? 
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Clear Skies, Jim
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Discovering: Messier objects, Deep sky treasures, NGCs, Double stars, & Nebulae of all kinds.
Televue 85 "Polaris" Mount
Custom Crafted Newtonian Dob 8" f7 w/Feathertouch
Celestron Cometron Reflector 114mm f8
Zeiss Diafun 8 X 30 Binos
Zeiss 10 X 56 Binos
 Aldrich Astronomical Society
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Protheus
Vaguely offended
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 5065
Loc: Illinois, US
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Sorry, the only funny question I've gotten is "how far can you see with that..." 
Chris
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"To tread the sharp edge of a sword;
to run on smooth-frozen ice,
one needs no footsteps to follow..."
"Well, people sometimes ask me 'how did you get involved in astronomy?' I said 'I got born, what's your problem?'" -- John Dobson
"In discussing the large-scale structure of the cosmos, astronomers sometimes say that space is curved, or that the universe is finite but unbounded. Whatever are they talking about?" -- Carl Sagan
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orion9
sage
Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 202
Loc: North Carolina
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Before dawn at work once, I pointed out the planet Venus to some co-workers. One guy became very adamant that not only could you NOT see a planet with the naked eye, but furthermore the object in question could only be the North Star because it was the brightest light in the sky. Logic made no dent in this idiot even when others pointed out that "if it's the North Star then why is it rising in the east". It just goes to show that you can't fix stupid.
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FarrOut
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/24/05
Posts: 925
Loc: Tampa
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Rain greeted visitors on a scheduled night of observing at the local museum. The visitors were treated to a show in the planetarium to reward their persistence in making the trek.
During the show, two rain soaked visitors loudly entered the domed room demanding to know why the telescopes were not set up as advertised.
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Criterion RV6
NEXSTAR 11-GPS
HyperStar
Starshoot CCD
Sky Scout
A wonderful wife that let's me do this stuff
Telescopes are for after you learn astronomy.
http://www.farrout.org
http://www.marsastro.org
Astronomy is looking up!
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GeorgeDuke
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 1585
Loc: PARADISE! (So.Florida)
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This may be slightly off topic but still funny. I shop at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart on a regular basis and they frequently have telescopes for sale. Often they are Reflectors and they ALWAYS set the display up with the OTA backwards in the mount and the eyepiece end pointing to the floor! I have spoken to them many times about it but I am sure they think I am crazy. Sometimes I re-assemble the display myself but the next time I am there it has been changed back to their concept of how it should be!
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George
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SkyShed POD XL-3
LX200GPS 203mm f10
StellarVue SV102ED2 Feathertouch Ser#0018
LXD75 GOTO with Orion 16" pier extension
Baader Hyperion 8mm ,13mm, 21mm + FTRs
2" GSO ED barlow, 2" SV Dielectric and Orion Prism Diagonals
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InkDark
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/29/07
Posts: 1837
Loc: Montreal, Canada
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Quote:
We were doing a program at our local Science center and we had a 6" refractor pointed at the Andromeda Galaxy. The Astronomer at the time was also pointing out when The Hubble Space Telescope would be able to be seen as a satelite overhead. As he finished pointing it out and given a brief talk about some of the recent things Hubble had imaged, one patron asked "what are the chances of hubble crashing into any of the objects it is looking at?
That's a good one... in so many ways...
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Jimmy
If you could stop time, for how long would you stop it?
"...since that time, I have not complained about the weather one single time. I’m glad there is weather." – Alan Bean, Apollo 12
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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Quote:
Quote:
We were doing a program at our local Science center and we had a 6" refractor pointed at the Andromeda Galaxy. The Astronomer at the time was also pointing out when The Hubble Space Telescope would be able to be seen as a satelite overhead. As he finished pointing it out and given a brief talk about some of the recent things Hubble had imaged, one patron asked "what are the chances of hubble crashing into any of the objects it is looking at?
That's a good one... in so many ways...
thats pretty good! 
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
 -Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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Snaproll
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/20/04
Posts: 3824
Loc: Wisconsin
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Gee... no good stories like that to share  At least that I can think of off the top of my head.
I guess I'm always amused with two cliché responses where people think their original. When looking at the moon they always ask, "Can I see the flag?", and of course the other with viewing Saturn is, after the "Wow!" expression, then there is the inevitable "That's not real! You stuck a picture in there!" Saturn is always a site to behold, it does look like it 'can't be real'.
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-Jim-
Happiness is a clear sky and a Denk II
old AP images and some new C14 Hyperstar images
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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Quote:
with viewing Saturn is, after the "Wow!" expression, then there is the inevitable "That's not real! You stuck a picture in there!" Saturn is always a site to behold, it does look like it 'can't be real'.
that kind of happened to me.i had a friend look at saturn and he thought it was fake but surely it was real! 
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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Sky_Watcher2007
easily amused
Reged: 07/24/06
Posts: 174
Loc: Belleville, IL
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Quote:
This may be slightly off topic but still funny. I shop at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart on a regular basis and they frequently have telescopes for sale. Often they are Reflectors and they ALWAYS set the display up with the OTA backwards in the mount and the eyepiece end pointing to the floor! I have spoken to them many times about it but I am sure they think I am crazy. Sometimes I re-assemble the display myself but the next time I am there it has been changed back to their concept of how it should be!
 Now that's good!!
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Rhonda~
C9.25 ASGT SCT
Hardin Optical 6" Dob
Pentax 16 x 50 XCF Binoculars
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Jerry Moore
sage
Reged: 05/23/06
Posts: 311
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We are often asked.."Can you see the American flag on the Moon?"
ROLFMAO
Jerry
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InkDark
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/29/07
Posts: 1837
Loc: Montreal, Canada
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I have a similar story but it's not about astronomy, but anyways, here goes:
I was talking with a friend while having lunch at the University one day and we were talking about hyenas. One girl who was sitting near us said: "what's a hyena...Oh that's like in the Lion King?" (the kids movie). Although I didn’t know who she was I replied: Yeah but the real ones don't speak.
Ouch! Don’t quit your day job!
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Jimmy
If you could stop time, for how long would you stop it?
"...since that time, I have not complained about the weather one single time. I’m glad there is weather." – Alan Bean, Apollo 12
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NeoDinian
Experienced Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 12709
Loc: Rockford Illinois
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Quote:
We are often asked.."Can you see the American flag on the Moon?"
ROLFMAO
Jerry
We get that one a LOT on public nights at our club.. My answer is always the same...
I'll look at my watch and tell them: "No, it's after 5... They took it down."
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Neo... (Jeff)
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10" LX200-GPS/SMT UHTC "Draco"
 Rockford, Il.
NeoDinian's Eye on the Sky!
Coming soon:
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Snaproll
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/20/04
Posts: 3824
Loc: Wisconsin
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Gotta remember that one Jeff
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-Jim-
Happiness is a clear sky and a Denk II
old AP images and some new C14 Hyperstar images
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5449
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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Quote:
Quote:
We are often asked.."Can you see the American flag on the Moon?"
ROLFMAO
Jerry
We get that one a LOT on public nights at our club.. My answer is always the same...
I'll look at my watch and tell them: "No, it's after 5... They took it down."
nice one Jeff!
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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Jeff in Austin
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/26/07
Posts: 801
Loc: TEXAS
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I was asked by a visitor before he looked through the scope, "How do you know it's Saturn?" All I could think of as a reply was, "It's a reapeat and I watched through the credits the first time it was on."
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There's nothing like having a supportive family, including Second Grader w/ scope, curious toddler, and lovely wife.
Supporter of Austin CSC, Austin CalSky.
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Protheus
Vaguely offended
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 5065
Loc: Illinois, US
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Now that I think about it, I did get another odd one. "What's the Milky Way?" Tried my best to explain it, but not sure whether the guy got the point or not...
Chris
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"To tread the sharp edge of a sword;
to run on smooth-frozen ice,
one needs no footsteps to follow..."
"Well, people sometimes ask me 'how did you get involved in astronomy?' I said 'I got born, what's your problem?'" -- John Dobson
"In discussing the large-scale structure of the cosmos, astronomers sometimes say that space is curved, or that the universe is finite but unbounded. Whatever are they talking about?" -- Carl Sagan
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Snaproll
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/20/04
Posts: 3824
Loc: Wisconsin
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Ohh, I thought of one many, many years ago when I started with a 60mm refractor back in college. I used to get together with another guy who was also very interested in astronomy, but we were both starting out. You know the story, wandering around Lyra looking for the ring nebula visually at about 10 power, not finding it for some reason...
Well, my friend has this 4" reflector that was kind of beat up. He yells, "I GOT IT!!!" and starts hopping around. I run over and sure enough, there is this white donut! Hmmmm..... I began moving the scope around, and... hmmm, all the other stars looked like donuts? I focused the scope, but couldn't get a pinpoint, just a larger or smaller donut, (probably the mirror cell had shifted and collimation was in the twilight zone). Anyway I said, "Jim, I don't think it's the ring nebula, everything looks like a donut?". He rushes over and takes a look... In all seriousness he says, "Maybe I've discovered a cluster of planetaries!"
Don't know whatever happened to him after college but I wonder if he chuckles remembering that night too.
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-Jim-
Happiness is a clear sky and a Denk II
old AP images and some new C14 Hyperstar images
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LadyAstronomer
Bookworm
Reged: 11/15/07
Posts: 3195
Loc: Library of Congress
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I was a planetarium director early in my career. Oh the stories I could tell!! Here are just a couple of them.
1) Despite the fact that the projector was clearly visible in the middle of the dome, I showed them the sky from the North Pole and from the Equator, I moved them through a night's worth of sky from evening twilight to morning twilight, and the projector itself produced a 6th-magnitude sky; I, on occasion, had adults think that the dome opened up and they were seeing the real night sky! I WISH there were 6th-magnitude, naked-eye skies in the heart of the city!!
2) A man walked in the door and said to the children with him. "This is the aquarium."  That one still makes me laugh! I imagined flooding the dome and letting everybody swim with the fishes.
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We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-- T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding, Four Quartets
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Trebor777
Hazy
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 1159
Loc: Connecticut - U.S.
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"So, how much was that microscope?" is my favorite question to get.
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- Randy
Telescopes (Solar too), Eyepieces, Mounts, Filters, CCD Cameras,
Astronomy Accessories, My Eyes, My Mind (Sometimes) and Hopefully Clear Skies.
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