The press do it to me, example is a light plane crashes & the tv say's "it's an Ultralight", Few days later a Gyrocopter crashes reporter states "it a home made helicopter ultralight aircraft" when an airliner goes down it's a plane crash & never a jet airliner, and the best one of all is they never learn from their stupidity or get it right even after 20 plus years. Idiots
I try and avoid any discussion with general public re matters of astronomy.I find it unbelievable that many people believe the crap they see on main stream media.Its just too hard to try and explain how things are,so I generally avoid it.
Even recently,an image I took of milky way (see below),and it was seen at a local photography club.No body could understand I took the image with a wide field lens,all thought I must have taken it through a telescope.But the the real head shake was-"but how did you know where to point the camera,you cannot see that with your eye"
And that just shows how few people go outside and look up on a new moon night
One of my pet peeves is gender related.
I hate it when people ask to talk to my husband/boyfriend about my rig when I'm right there standing next to it.
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Originally Posted by spacezebra
I ditto your peeve - even when I have co built the scope.. but things are changing
Cheers Petra d.
You Girls are just to nice. Haul back and belt them one ore just toss in a comment like. " he is nailed to a cross in the backyard for asking stupid questions."
Well, let me start by making it plain that responding to such a thread when my desktop widget tells me the world will end in just 489 days is uncommonly generous of me. And I mention time for a good reason. I do less than a half dozen 'Discovery Nights" a year at the Science Centre but almost always there is a time waster. The audience is predominantly family groups with young children (including a few too young for the entertainment we offer) and it is a busy job to get the kids to the eyepiece and looking straight down the barrel without it ending in tears - especially mine. There's instructions to give ("Don't hold on to the scope.") and steps or ladders to position. We always have more people than scopes (just) and there are quiet moments so there is the possibility of getting into a longer conversation which I welcome. I'll happily rabbit on about star formation or cosmology or point out some constellations and I'll dispel myths and legends.
The only thing that annoys me at all is the 'what should I buy and how much does it cost questions' coming from people you know straight off will never buy or use a scope. I mentioned this to my wife who related the story of telling a couple how prices have come down ('yes') and scopes are actually quite cheap ('really') and you can get something quite good for $400 ('that much!! I thought you said cheap'). What are they thinking? Have you priced fishing reels, or fishing boats, golf clubs, cameras, hiking gear, bicycles ... I know the sky's the limit in astronomy but entry level is actually quite cheap and anyone who is put off by the cost was never serious. Meanwhile I could have have been talking to a 10 year old about the reason parts of the moon are brighter than others or that the rings of Saturn are made of all the luggage lost from airports around the world ....
BTW want to know the question I like? The disco nights are held at a meteorlogically challenged location and even when the sky is 'clear' the seeing is generally 'carp'. But every so often the conditions are good, the scope is good and something like Saturn (Saturn is the crowd favourite) is just gorgeous and I get comments like "That isn't real" "You've got a picture there" "Thank you for that". The chest puffs out a bit, I go home with a bigger than usual smile and I put up with another 5-10 shirty nights.
Great thread JJJ.
Last edited by AstralTraveller; 19-08-2011 at 10:21 PM.
and I haven't seen the Mars hoax email this year either! I did receive a 'Moon twice the size when seen from the Arctic circle' email/image. Obviously photoshopped. I went to great lengths to explain to several friends that just because the Moon is at its closes to Earth, doesn't make it appear twice its normal size, even from the Arctic Circle!
I have tried in vain several times to explain to a few 20-something Gen Y work colleagues about the Apollo Missions, the complexities, why humans have not returned to the Moon, why only three were sent at a time, why the flag appears to be waving. why there are not stars in the background of the photos etc etc. It just doesn't sink in. They just bluntly tell me 'I never happened' and no amount discussion will convince them. No amount of reasonable explanations and discussion will ever convince them - a byproduct of the internet culture where anything and everything can be photoshopped and faked on You Tube, in my opinion.
When a "friend" introduces you to someone and states that you are into astrology.
Grrrrr
Ah yeh, this happens ALL the time.
Even recently when I was on tour up and down the east coast with a work colleague, giving seminars about social media to real estate agents, my colleague repeatedly (even though he knew his mistake immediately) introduced me as having the biggest 'astrology' website....
Moon Landing, Nibiru, NASA is keeping it quiet... are all essentially the same - conspiracy theory wackos.
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Originally Posted by stephenb
All of the above....
Seconded.
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Originally Posted by stephenb
and I haven't seen the Mars hoax email this year either!
I haven't got one, but there was a 365 days of Astronomy podcast telling the how the story started a few weeks back.
Blame the Uranus jokes on the astronomers who wanted to call it Zeus - a Greek god - and then latinised the name because all the other planets have Roman names.
I had my telescope out at a cycling camping weekend not long ago and some of the kids were excited about looking at Saturn. They loved it and called their mums over. Two of them came over reluctantly had a quick look and their comments were "Oh I thought it would look a bit better than that", and "oh it isnt very big is it?" then walked off again. I felt a bit deflated! Luckily a complete stranger came up later and asked to have a look and his response was "wow that is amazing" he walked off a few steps and came back saying "wow that is really really amazing, thank you so much".
That was pretty much my reaction when I first looked through my telescope, totally blown away. I always thought saturn would be a winner for non astronomy fans but I guess I was wrong!
I had my telescope out at a cycling camping weekend not long ago and some of the kids were excited about looking at Saturn. They loved it and called their mums over. Two of them came over reluctantly had a quick look and their comments were "Oh I thought it would look a bit better than that", and "oh it isnt very big is it?" then walked off again. I felt a bit deflated! Luckily a complete stranger came up later and asked to have a look and his response was "wow that is amazing" he walked off a few steps and came back saying "wow that is really really amazing, thank you so much".
That was pretty much my reaction when I first looked through my telescope, totally blown away. I always thought saturn would be a winner for non astronomy fans but I guess I was wrong!
No. You are not wrong, you/we are unable to cope with the excitement of shows like Big Brother'!
I showed Saturn to a friend in the late 80's and he still talks about the pleasure he got from the view. Keep up the good work.
I don't think anything on the list peeves me off. I like converting idiots to real knowledge. I find it a good challenge and if it is ok for them to talk utter crap to me about their idiot hobbies I figure it is good for me to bore them to death with my astrology.
I always make sure I have a cloud filter handy on those nights when there is a bit of cloud about.
I like to entertain people with questions like, how do you know that the Apollo program was faked? Were you on the program? Have you got any documented evidence?
I especially like questions about Nabiru. I find those the most entertaining and fascinating. Several people have shown me "real" photos of Nibiru near the Sun in a sunset photo. Hey it must be real because it is in the photo right?
People generally don't read books out in the real world. Wikipedia is now the only recognised source of information which can and does contain misinformation and inane rubbish. People learn everything off the main stream idiot box, don't watch documentaries, don't do any critical thinking or think at all. They have been treated like mushrooms for so long they have become more like vegetables (yes I know mushrooms are fungi). The modality is for the populace to be ignorant and placated with crap on television so they don't wise up and murder all those taking advantage of us.
In other words, people are only as stupid as the utter crap they are fed. I figure it is my obligation to help them to learn and I really enjoy that. They only ask stupid and ignorant questions because they don't know any better.
Just my take on this whole thing and I think it all depends on how one looks at things.
When even my wife (love her to death) tells people that I photograph planets ..well, we have no chance To most people these are all just words that don't relate to each other in any way other than they are astronomy type words.
When even my wife (love her to death) tells people that I photograph planets ..well, we have no chance To most people these are all just words that don't relate to each other in any way other than they are astronomy type words.
None of them annoy me, I generally don't engage on much astronomy stuff, unless I'm speaking to someone already into it.
Must admit I'm surprised at people believing the landing hoax, and mars being bigger than the moon...... But happy to let them believe whatever they like.
Professor: "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all." Fry: "Oh. What's it called now?" Professor: "Urectum. Here, let me locate it for you."
And I mention time for a good reason. I do less than a half dozen 'Discovery Nights" a year at the Science Centre but almost always there is a time waster. The audience is predominantly family groups with young children (including a few too young for the entertainment we offer) and it is a busy job to get the kids to the eyepiece and looking straight down the barrel without it ending in tears - especially mine. There's instructions to give ("Don't hold on to the scope.") and steps or ladders to position. We always have more people than scopes (just) and there are quiet moments so there is the possibility of getting into a longer conversation which I welcome. I'll happily rabbit on about star formation or cosmology or point out some constellations and I'll dispel myths and legends. 
Have you priced fishing reels, or fishing boats, golf clubs, cameras, hiking gear, bicycles ... I know the sky's the limit in astronomy but entry level is actually quite cheap and anyone who is put off by the cost was never serious. Meanwhile I could have have been talking to a 10 year old about the reason parts of the moon are brighter than others or that the rings of Saturn are made of all the luggage lost from airports around the world ....
..well, we have no chance 
To most people these are all just words that don't relate to each other in any way other than they are astronomy type words.
