Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from ...

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comets, 30, 134, 256 ancient reports of, 177 described, 135 Concord Monitor, 133 cones (in eyes), 101 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, A (Twain), 117 conservation of angular momentum, 196–98 constellations, 253 astrology and, 216–17 naming of, 237–38 upside-down, 180 See also specific constellations Contact, 257 contrast, 106–107 Copernicus, Nicolaus, 49, 143, 217 copyrighted material, 239 Cor Coroli, 238 Coriolis, Gustave-Gaspard, 22 Coriolis effect, 21–27 described, 23–24 illustrated, 25 corona, 117 x-rays from, 121–22 correspondence, principle of, 215–16 cosmic collisions, 195 Couric, Katie, 3–4 creationism, 187–201 Bible as basis for, 189, 190, 196 Christian sects and, 189–90 conservation of angular momentum and, 196–98 “creation science” and, 190 evolution and, 200–201 Moon’s age and orbit and, 191–92 solar system and, 192–98 supernovas and, 198–200 “Creation Online,” 193 cyclonic system, 24 dark side of the Moon, 31–33 Dark Side of the Moon, 32–33 INDEX 267 Davies, Keith, 199, 200 daylight star sighting, 103–10 Boy Scout tube trick and, 103–104, 110 bright sky and, 106 contrast and, 106–107 impossibility of, 107 rationale behind belief, 104–105 Venus, 109 viewing from the bottom of a well, 104–105, 107–109 Deep Impact, 7, 139, 257 Democritus, 34 depth perception, 81 DeYoung, Don, 191–92 Dickens, Charles, 104–105 differential gravity, 66–67 digital cameras, 162–63 Digitized Sky Survey, 243 dinosaurs, extinction of, 138, 139, 141 disasters, ancient reports of, 174–77, 181, 183 Discovery Channel, 5 Doubleday, 184 Draco, 55 “Dream Weaver,” 31 Durda, Dan, 215, 247 Earth age of, 189 axis wobble and, 54–56 changes in rotation of, 179–80 Earth-Moon system, 72–74, 192 elliptical orbit of, 48–56, 127 Hubble images of, 232 magnetic field of, 160 poles, 112–15 size of, 37 stopped rotation of, 176–77 tilt in axis of, 50–53 Venus passing close to, 179–82 Earth in Upheaval (Velikovsky), 174
268 INDEX earthquakes, 130, 182 planetary alignment and, 131 earthshine, 62–63 eclipses apparent size of sun and moon and, 116 lunar, 117–18, 167 solar (see solar eclipse) ecliptic, 50–53 illustrated, 51, 52 egg balancing and the equinox, 11–12 first day of spring and, 17 illustrated, 14 origin of legend, 17 publicity for, 17–18 Einstein, Albert, 99, 151 “biggest blunder” of, 146 space and, 147 ejecta, 199–200 electromagnetism, 183, 214 electronics “hardened” against radiation, 161 electrons, 34–35 in the solar wind, 160 in stars, 98, 99 elliptical orbits seasons and, 48–56 tides and, 71–72 Empire Strikes Back, The, 248 energy friction and, 192 light and, 98–99 quantized, 99 equator, 112 Eros, 140 Europa, 75 European Southern Observatory, 95 evidence, 153, 157, 175 evolution, 200–201 Explorer 1, 160 explosions in space, 254–55 far side of the Moon, 32 Federal Trade Commission, 239 First Amendment, 240 first quarter moon, 59, 60 5/5/2000 Ice: The Ultimate Disaster (Noone), 130–31 Flamsteed, John, 238 flat space, 147, 148 flock of ducks story, 203–204, 210–11 fourth dimension, 149, 150–51 Fox Television, 156 Fraser, Alistair, 6, 26 free fall, 68 friction, 192 full moon, 59, 60 galactic cannibalism, 75–76 galaxies, 209 Big Bang and, 144–46 vastness of, 250–51 Galileo, 123–24, 224 Gallup poll, 156, 213 gamma rays, 98, 223 Ganymede, 74–75 Gardner, Martin, 17 Gauss, Karl Friedrich, 148, 149 giant turtle story, 187 God, 189. See also creationism Goddard Space Flight Center, 202–204, 226 “gods’ view” of the sky, 180 Gould, Eliot, 155 Grand Central Terminal, 180 “Grand Conjunction.” See “Great” Planetary Alignment of May 2000 gravity astrology and, 214 differential, 66–67 egg balancing and, 13 escaping from, 252–53
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Bad Astronomy PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
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Bad Astronomy PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
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CONTENTS Introduction 1 PART I Bad
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CONTENTS vii Recommended Reading 25
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2 BAD ASTRONOMY luminous, against a
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4 BAD ASTRONOMY who fully well knew
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6 BAD ASTRONOMY But if they cannot
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PART I PPPPPP Bad Astronomy Begins
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1 PPPPPP The Yolk’s on You: Egg B
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THE YOLK’S ON YOU 13 and they mak
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THE YOLK’S ON YOU 15 ished announ
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THE YOLK’S ON YOU 17 Of course it
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THE YOLK’S ON YOU 19 with the wea
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2 PPPPPP Flushed with Embarrassment
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FLUSHED WITH EMBARRASSMENT 23 much
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FLUSHED WITH EMBARRASSMENT 25 Equat
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FLUSHED WITH EMBARRASSMENT 27 still
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IDIOM’S DELIGHT 29 press my heigh
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IDIOM’S DELIGHT 31 friend about w
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IDIOM’S DELIGHT 33 Incidentally,
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IDIOM’S DELIGHT 35 So you might c
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38 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and t
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40 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON body
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42 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON red l
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44 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON top o
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46 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON photo
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5 PPPPPP A Dash of Seasons: Why Sum
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50 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Clear
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52 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Equat
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54 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Howev
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56 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON the S
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58 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON These
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60 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON the d
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62 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON That
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7 PPPPPP The Gravity of the Situati
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66 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON is co
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68 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON a poi
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70 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON you
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72 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Moon,
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74 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON that
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76 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON galax
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78 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON that
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80 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON exact
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82 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON The P
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84 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON But n
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86 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON of th
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88 SKIES AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGH
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100 SKIES AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIG
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13 PPPPPP Shadows in the Sky: Eclip
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16 PPPPPP When the Universe Throws
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PART IV PPPPPPP Artificial Intellig
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17 PPPPPP Appalled at Apollo: Uncov
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 157 My question
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 159 Admittedly,
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 161 These belts
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 163 solid-state
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 165 However, you
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 167 flow well be
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 169 One of the m
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 171 The shadows
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APPALLED AT APOLLO 173 they put tog
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WORLDS IN DERISION 175 Many people
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WORLDS IN DERISION 177 Today, we wo
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WORLDS IN DERISION 179 do now for t
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WORLDS IN DERISION 181 This premise
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WORLDS IN DERISION 183 Venus’ orb
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WORLDS IN DERISION 185 or mainstrea
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19 PPPPPP In the Beginning: Creatio
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IN THE BEGINNING 189 want to believ
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IN THE BEGINNING 191 squarely at th
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IN THE BEGINNING 193 tem started ou
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IN THE BEGINNING 195 it’s natural
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( a.) ( b.) ( c.) IN THE BEGINNING
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IN THE BEGINNING 199 their lives, e
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IN THE BEGINNING 201 ence isn’t l
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MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 203 la
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MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 205 In
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MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 207 an
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MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 209 Ne
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MISIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS 211 ni
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MARS IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE 213 Th
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MARS IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE 215 as
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Page 232 and 233: PART V PPPPPP Beam Me Up We’ve tr
Page 234 and 235: 22 PPPPPP Hubble Trouble: Hubble Sp
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Page 240 and 241: HUBBLE TROUBLE 229 for space telesc
Page 242 and 243: HUBBLE TROUBLE 231 staking your sci
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Page 246 and 247: HUBBLE TROUBLE 235 can assure you t
Page 248 and 249: STAR HUSTLERS 237 That’s a tall o
Page 250 and 251: STAR HUSTLERS 239 the names aren’
Page 252 and 253: STAR HUSTLERS 241 I’ll note that
Page 254 and 255: STAR HUSTLERS 243 The star “Phili
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Page 258 and 259: BAD ASTRONOMY GOES HOLLYWOOD 247 ar
Page 260 and 261: BAD ASTRONOMY GOES HOLLYWOOD 249 si
Page 262 and 263: BAD ASTRONOMY GOES HOLLYWOOD 251 it
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Page 266 and 267: BAD ASTRONOMY GOES HOLLYWOOD 255 In
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Page 271 and 272: 260 RECOMMENDED READING with the ma
Page 273 and 274: 262 RECOMMENDED READING One of the
Page 275 and 276: 264 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Vergano, for gi
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Page 281 and 282: 270 INDEX Islam, 58-59 “It’s Sp
Page 283 and 284: 272 INDEX neutrons, 34 in stars, 98
Page 285 and 286: 274 INDEX Sirius, 100, 107 size con
Page 287 and 288: 276 INDEX triangles, 148 true scien
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