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To Auriga, on "Sky Vistas":
(snip)
"... describing what can be seen in certain types of instruments and explaining the astronomical reasons why each object appears the way it does or is located where it is."
(snip)
Craig Crossen

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Craig,
I have just read the article you and Gerald Rhemann wrote in the September issue of Astronomy, and it is of a piece with Binocular Astronomy and Sky Vistas: besides describing the object, you explain the why of the object, why it looks as it does and why it is where it is.

This approach is very unusual in astronomy magazines. To me, it contributes to the "majesty" of the observing experience more than do columns, no matter how charming or otherwise meritorious, that merely describe the object and its appearance.

There is one other writer of articles in the astronomy magazines, who takes the approach you do: Charles Wood's columns in Sky & Telescope, and his marvelous book, The Modern Moon, also reflect a deep interest in why, in meaning, in significance, in a scientific sense.

There are many fine descriptive writers, who give only brief or no attention to why, and I enjoy their articles and have benefited from them for many years. But my heart is with the few who also tell us what it means.

Bill Meyers

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