Stupid comments and uninformed questions.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by iceman

...my colleague repeatedly (even though he knew his mistake immediately) introduced me as having the biggest 'astrology' website....

Makes sense now... never could find my horoscope on this website.

[Matty (Matt Fowler)]

one for the fellow dob owners out there is "can you take photos with that". Which has been asked of me about a thousand times since i got the scope.They are always so dissapointed when i say no.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Matty

one for the fellow dob owners out there is "can you take photos with that". Which has been asked of me about a thousand times since i got the scope.They are always so dissapointed when i say no.

You could though.

[avandonk]

Being a very grumpy person when I witness idiocy, whenever I was in a newsagent I would demand that the astrology magazines should be put under fiction not under science with the astronomy magazines. This behaviour of course led me to find many new friends not. Now I do not care as the real stuff is on line.

I could go on but I will not for now.

Bert

[NorthernLight (Max)]

my favorite is: so you have a telescope, have you seen the amerikan flag on the moon?
And when I start explaining why this small object cant be observed with a telescope on earth, they take it as a proof that there is no flag, discarding my explanations as an unwillingness to believe.
Sorry to all Fox Mulder copy cats: I dont want to believe.

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

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.

But the Roman name for Zeus is Jupiter, which was already taken. Uranos is the sky god in ancient Greek mythology.

That said, the only language in which "Uranus" sounds funny is English, which is a funny language in more than a few ways

Cheers
Steffen.

[Analog6 (Odille)]

I voted Mars etc but the Moon landing conspiracy is up there too for me. My OH knows he can always get a rise by pretending to believe it.

[Amunous (Michael)]

I took a complete noob that showed some interest in astronomy out to a viewing night. I had my trusty laser pointer with me so i could point out various things to him.

He asked me if he could have a go, i obliged. He then preceded to point it at things and spout the names back to me all good showed me he was paying attention, then he gets to Jupiter.

While holding the laser on Jupiter he asks "Do you think that its hitting the planet?". I nearly died of laughter. Poor kid.

He didn't even understand when i tried to explain to him that even under the best conditions you would be lucky for the beam to travel a kilometer.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I never let anyone else use my laser pointer now, unless I know they are a fellow Astronomer.
3 times I've let "laymen" use it. I explained most carefully, each time, that the beam is very dangerous and will permanently damage eyesight if used irresponsibly.
The first one deliberately pointed it through the windscreen of an on coming car.
The second pointed it at his mates face.
The third pointed it at their dogs face.

Is it any wonder that the authorities wish to ban them??

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I get the perving on neighbours one all the time. I just smile and ignore. Once showed Saturn to a friend who was amazed there were actually rings, she said she thought that was something someone had made up!

Malcolm

[astroron (Ron)]

I had a guy who used to bug me with Have you seen any UFO's lately
He told me a story of how he saw four bright lights over a Boing 747 that was at 10.000 meters at night ,when I asked him how he knew it was a 747 he quite blithely told me he could see the lights on the wings
I then showed him it was impossible to see them as a 747 at that distance would only be a little dot moving across the sky
He has never asked me that question again
He is also a Nibaru Nut.

[OICURMT]

Originally Posted by iceman

introduced me as having the biggest 'astrology' website....

Uhh.... just tried your astrology website... appears to be down.

http://www.iceinthespacebetweenyourears.com.au/

Guess you forgot to pay the bill...

OIC!

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by barx1963

Once showed Saturn to a friend who was amazed there were actually rings, she said she thought that was something someone had made up!

Malcolm

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hey! Harden up.
You all are endowed with a gift. The yearning for knowledge. The ability to understand available information. Some one many months ago stated their favourite saying, "Never argue with a fool. They will pull the discussion down to their level and beat you with experience."

This one is mine:
“He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool - shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple - teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows: he is asleep - wake him. He who knows and knows he knows: he is wise - follow him.”

I learnt a long time ago that people who can teach me something, interest me a great deal.

@ jjj, Excellent thread. There are very few ladies like you on this planet.

It is a fact of life. People are all individuals. 6 billion different characters.
Put some of us into an elite group of actors, business tycoons or astrologists (yuck). I assume they would view us in similar vein as we see people who ask those peeve-ing questions.

It is good to be passionate toward your hobby. Most people will not share that passion. Just the same as those ... astrologists. They believe themselves to be right and whether that is right or wrong they still deserve respect.

I am possibly the worst of all. I can not tolerate them.
Maybe that is why I like this thread so much.

Cheers

[NorthernLight (Max)]

seconded

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Had this real wierdo a couple of weekends back when I took my solar scope to support a club fund raising barbecue...guy kept calling us interceptors and wanted to know how we were communicating with NASA and whether we were using radio or something else...

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

I just been asked a good question by one of my apprentices. He asked if it was true that earth would be in darkness when comet Helen (elinen?) got between us and the sun. He read an article somewhere that we would be in darkness for 2-3 days.

Adrian

[Shano592 (Shane)]

"There are no stupid questions ... only stupid people." - Mr Garrison, South Park

To all of the above topics, you should be getting some mileage out of them, by having thoroughly misleading answers to all of them.

That way, you sound like you have studied up on everything, yet you are pointing people in all sorts of directions.

It is a surprising amount of fun.

[Jen]

When ever i mention that i have a 12inch dob i always get the saying oh you should see the size of mine (then they start to play pocket billiards) my reply is oh honey this 12inch scope satisfies me at night time more than you ever could

Oh and quite often i get, why was the moon out during the day is that a one off thing to see

[rider]

"Astrology, astronomy whats the difference?"

my answer...

-Not much really,
Professional astronomers use telescopes to make a living.
Professional astrologers use the gullible to make a living.