[meteorite-list] Crackpot in the news
From: Tom Knudson <peregrineflier_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Apr 23 22:34:06 2005 Message-ID: <002301c54876$15c88210$2d107918_at_Michelle> Yes Crackpot, he should not smoke crack and pot at the same time! He must think the Moon is real small, if he thinks he is seeing it that close with a 125mm scope! Thanks, Tom peregrineflier <>< http://www.frontiernet.net/~peregrineflier/Peregrineflier.htm http://fstop.proboards24.com/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse_at_charter.net> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:34 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Crackpot in the news Sadly, the article writer seems to be too poorly educated to see that this guy is, indeed, a lunatic. http://www.pall-times.com/articles/2005/04/23/news/news2.txt MINETTO MAN'S SKYGAZING PASSION IS 'LUNAR-CY' By DEBRA LUPIEN ROBILLARD, Features Editor MINETTO - Amateur astonomer Joseph Bush said he can, and does, spend hours at a time with his eye to the lens watching the Moon. "I've been fascinated with the Moon since I was a kid," said Bush. He remembers his first telescope was from the Montgomery Ward catalog - a far cry from the remote-controlled, 1,900mm Meade 125 scope he uses now. "I can pick up a marble sitting on the Moon with this thing," he added, nodding at his telescope. Which is why at 4 o'clock in the morning on clear nights, while most of us are asleep in our beds, Bush can be found out on his back deck or front yard staring into space. Bush said although he has no formal training in astronomy, he has been researching and reading everything he can, particularly about the Moon. "People say the Moon is dead, but it's still alive," he said. "I've got (photos with) eruptions coming off of the Moon." Bush takes pictures with a 35mm camera attached to the telescope, using 110 speed black-and-white film to eliminate what he calls "noise," or spots, on the photos you would normally get with color film. He pointed out as there is no atmosphere on the Moon, he cannot say the short-lived eruptions are volcanic, but suggests it is high-pressure steam being released. Bush claims he is the only man who has caught an eruption on the Moon on film. He keeps up a e-mail correspondence with Dr. James B, Garvin, lead scientist for Mars Exploration with NASA. "When I sent him my photos, they actually turned the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to check it out," he said. According to an e-mail received from Garvin by Bush, this is indeed unusual as the HST is used primarily for space observations much further away than the Moon, which is "only" about 384,403 kilometers (238,857 miles) from Earth, a figure that changes as it orbits Earth. Because of how busy the HST is for what Garvin describes as "critical astrophysical observations, finding time to make lunar observations with it is difficult. "This is why it is important for people such as yourselves and other Earth-based telescopic observers to continue to look at the Moon," writes Garvin. Although he prefers the manual method, his state-of-the-art telescope is equipped with a remote control which can pinpoint about 40,000 different celestial bodies. All you need to do, explained Bush, is set the telescope up so it is facing dead north, select the body you want to view and press "go to" on the remote. "I once actually caught a meteor as it slammed into the Moon," said Bush. "I saw a blue flash and then I could see dirt flying all over when it hit." Bush said it is common to see meteorites, pieces of a meteor, hitting the Moon's surface, however, but it was a rare occurrence to catch a meteor strike. "The Moon is our sister planet," he said. "It keeps us in orbit, governs our seas and it takes a lot of (meteorite) hits for us." He said by Lake Ontario and in particular, Fair Haven, are great places to set up because they are so clear. Bush has a photo of what is called a star burst, which is when a star explodes. "It's so far away, it probably actually exploded millions of years ago, and we are just seeing it now," he said. Because he watches the Moon so often and for hours at a time, Bush has seen things he said he cannot identify, which he calls, of course, UFOs (unidentified flying objects). "Everything I've taken (photos) so far as the UFOs have come from the southwest (sky)," he said. "I've picked up some small unidentified objects between 700-900 miles out." When it comes to UFOs, he said his colleagues at NASA, such as Garvin, of course will neither confirm nor deny these sightings as UFOs. But, this does not deter Bush, who understands NASA's stance on the matters of UFOs. He continues to send NASA all of his sightings, under the enthusiastic encouragement of Garvin who writes, "Both Dr. (Anne) Kinney, our leading astronomer and director at NASA headquarters, and myself are very impressed with your work and interest and look forward to continued interactions." Bush resides in Minetto with his wife, Betty. ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list Received on Sat 23 Apr 2005 10:34:04 PM PDT |
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