Star Gazers

[aaahhh]

It should be very interesting watching Mars come within
34,649,589 miles from Earth and will be next to the moon as the brightest object in the sky. By Augest 27, 2005 we will be in for an amazing show. No one alive today will ever see it again. Also no human has ever seen this in recorded history. I have read it will be as large as a full moon to the naked eye.  I guess only time will tell.   Now that is hot tubing at it's finest.

[wmccall]

Ah,  you have ben the victim of spam and someone exagarating.  This pass between Mars and Earth was accurate, but it happened 2 years ago.  Someone also did some editing to the original message. It should have read that it will be as large as the moon to the naked eye in an scope using 70x magnification

[aaahhh]

wmccall,

I am not looking to put out mis-information. I did some miner research becase at first I did not think it was true.
I searched Mars Orbit and found a pretty neat example.
Well, all I can say is if it is a hoax (Sorry) Someone has way to much time on there hands. If it is true, it would be really cool to see. Heck, I think it is neat when I see a satellite fly over or a shooting star. All in all only time will tell the truth. Eather way thank you for your insight.

[wmccall]

In my professional life I am in the Information Technology business (and am an amatuer astronomer)


I consider myself on the expert side of the scale on the topics of spam, viruses, and spyware.  This is the first time I have seen astro related spam. My guess if that the hoax is used for the purpose of harvesting email addresses when it gets forwarded.

Last year was a nice naked eye comet visible from out spa. (darn binoculars get steamed up!  Tonight Saturn and the sliver of a moon are in the west at sunset with the brightest thing in the sky being Jupiter to the south.

This is quoted from Sky and Telescope Magazine

Mars (magnitude –0.2, in Pisces) rises due east around midnight or 1 a.m. and glows fiery orange high in the east-southeast by dawn. Mars will rise earlier each week, will enter the evening sky by the end of summer, and will blaze brilliantly during a close pass by Earth next October and November. In a telescope Mars is still only 10 arcseconds wide and is showing its gibbous phase. In late October it will reach a maximum apparent diameter of 20 arcseconds

If memory serves during this historic pass in 2003 Mars reached an apparent diamter of 23 arc seconds so this pass will be almost as good, and the fall sky might make it even clearer.  Mars, despite its closness is hard to observe clearly.

[aaahhh]

Well, My hat's off to ya Wmccall.

Awesome looking equipment you have there.

[r100rs]

Just curious - How far and how many potatoes does that thing shoot?    

r100rs

[HotTubMan]

I consider myself on the expert side of the scale on the topics of spam, viruses, and spyware.  This is the first time I have seen astro related spam. My guess if that the hoax is used for the purpose of harvesting email addresses when it gets forwarded.

.

I have changed my email address twice in the last three years.

The first one was overidden with spam. I was also the type to forward pictures and jokes.

After the first change, I had no spam for 1.5 years. Changed email because I moved.

I just recently started to receive jokes from some family members....and guess what? SPAM.

I have long suspected jokes and pics get circulated to farm email address, thank you for confirming my suspicions.

On the paranoid side, I also beleive McAfee and Norton are indirectly responsible for many if not all of the viruses. Something tells me that greed is more powerful than the small number of anarchists that may make such crap.

[wmccall]

Just curious - How far and how many potatoes does that thing shoot?    

r100rs

It shoots pumpkins.

http://www.pressdog.com/2003/03-10-29pumpkincannonP.htm
I have had the police tell me someone called and said that I was using a cannon in my yard. I've also had people stop and ask if I was throwing away that water heater.

[drewstar]

My, what a big....um...telescope you have.

Tell us,  in astronomy circles, do some men over compensate for thier, ah "short commings" by buying the biggest telescope?  

"Damn, here comes Will again...he thinks he soooooo cool with his extra long focal length.  I can't stand how all the woman just fawn over him. Makes me sick."

"Yea.  Who cares about how big your tube is? I mean everyone knows it's really about apeture girth... I mean width.Width. Apeture width."

"ohhhh. check out the mirrors on the new girl...."

And so it goes.  

[bosco0633]

hey WMCCALL

what a device, how long does it take to drain the tub with that tube hooked up to it?

[wmccall]

I have long suspected jokes and pics get circulated to farm email address, thank you for confirming my suspicions.

On the paranoid side, I also beleive McAfee and Norton are indirectly responsible for many if not all of the viruses. Something tells me that greed is more powerful than the small number of anarchists that may make such crap.

That has and probably is still a prime source of getting yourself on spam list.  However, having watched this for more than 10 years now, Spammers are getting more and more sophisticated and their are lots of ways of getting on list.  Some of them are beyond your control I use to have an email address   bill@XXXX.com  with XXX being a big ISP.   Lots of spammers send to all the common addresses at a particular domain.  Probably the worst way to get yourself on a spam list is to have your email address posted on a website.   Everyone here should change thier profile so the address isn't listed.  Us moderators can still get it, but it will prevent robots from getting it and adding you to their list.  Once your on these lists, it is impossible to get off.  I've had adresses I haven't used in 5 years that still get spam.