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

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meteor showers, 135–36 meteor storm, 136 Milky Way, 75–76, 124, 216, 250 as ordinary galaxy, 144 Minerva, goddess, 177 Moon, 28, 29, 124 appearing squashed, 79 arcseconds across, 91–92 back-scatter and, 62–63 big (see Moon Illusion) color of, 44 craters on, 186 creationism, 191–92 dark side of, 31–33 as a giant clock, 60–61 gravity of, 129 Hubble images of, 231–35 in movies, 255–56 phases of (see phases of the moon) precession and, 54–55 recession rate, 191–92 sky on, 158–60 tides and (see tides) “Venus’ birth” in Jupiter and, 176, 177, 180–82 visibility of stars and, 106 visible during the day, 61 Moon Illusion, 77–86 atmospheric distortion and, 79–80 holding up a dime and, 85–86 horizon and, 77–78, 79, 82–84 perigee, apogee and, 78–79 Ponzo Illusion and, 81–85 psychology and, 80 shape of the sky and, 82–85 size constancy and, 81, 85 unknown cause, 80 upside-down view and, 80 Moon-landing “hoax,” 154–73 dust on the Moon’s surface, 163–65 movie depicting, 155–56 NASA “forgetfulness” and, 172–73 NASA photographs and, 156–57 INDEX 271 no stars in the astronauts’ photos and, 158–60 plausible scenario for, 155 Soviets and, 173 surviving the radiation of space and, 160–63 temperature of the lunar surface, 165–67 tricks of light and shadow, 167–72 Moorsfield Eye Hospital, 120 Morris, Dr. John, 189 movies, 1–3, 7, 139, 141, 155–56, 245–57 asteroids and, 247–48 banking and, 248–49 enjoyment of, 257 escaping Earth’s gravity and, 252–53 explosions and, 254–55 laser beams and, 249–50 moon phases and, 255–56 moving stars and, 253 sound and, 246–47 vastness of space and, 250–51, 253 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 89 M31 spiral galaxy, 250–51 mystery in life, 204, 205 Nanyuki, Kenya, 21–22, 24, 27 NASA, 5, 85, 140, 203 Hubble and (see Hubble Space Telescope [HST]) Moon-landing hoax (see Moonlanding “hoax”) “NASA Caught in Yet Another Lie,” 234 neap tides, 71 Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, 140 near side of the Moon, 32 nebula, 247 Neptune, 183, 215 moons of, 196
272 INDEX neutrons, 34 in stars, 98 new moon, 58–59, 60 news media, 3, 19 Newton, Sir Isaac, 65–66, 224–25, 252 New York City Office of Consumer Affairs, 239 New Yorker magazine, 18 New York Times, 18 Next Generation Space Telescope, 226 Nineveh, 78 nitrogen, 41 Niven, Larry, 141 Nobel prize, 99 Noone, Richard, 130–31 north celestial pole (NCP), 112–15 north pole, 22–23, 112 North Star. See Polaris Nostradamus, 131 nuclear fusion, 98 nuclear weapons, 140 Nye, Bill, 5 Oberg, James, 156, 209 oceans, 39–40, 47 Ohio Washington University, 239, 240 “On the albedo of planets and their satellites,” 169–70 “On the Equations of Relative Motion of Systems of Bodies,” 22 open space, 148 orbiting objects, 68 Orion Nebula, 238, 247 Oschin Schmidt Telescope, 243 oscillators, 98 Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL), 227 oxygen, 41 Palin, Michael, 22 Pallas, 215 Palomar Observatory, 226, 243 paralox, 208 Parise, Ron, 85, 160, 209 parsec, 30 passive believers, 154 PBS, 226 peristalsis, 15 Perkins Observatory, 239, 240 Perseid meteor shower, 136 Perseus, 118, 136 phases of the moon, 57–63 brightness and, 61–63 causes of, 59–60 first quarter, 59 full moon, 59 illustrated, 61 intermediate phase, 59 new moon, 58–59 third quarter, 59 “Philip Cary Plait” star, 242 illustrated, 243 photoelectric effect, 99 photons, 41–47 illustrated, 42 as minimum-energy packet, 99 physical relationships, 216 Piazzi, Giuseppe, 215 Pickwick Papers, The (Dickens), 104–105 Pink Floyd, 32–33 Plagemann, Stephen, 131 Planck, Max, 98–99 planets alignment of (see alignment of planets) twinkling of, 92 See also individual planets Pliny the Elder, 176 Pluto, 28, 29, 195, 215 orbit of, 127 Polaris, 52, 55, 111–15 astronomical name of, 114 brightness of, 111–12
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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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MARS IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE 217 Mi
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MARS IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE 219 of
Page 232 and 233: PART V PPPPPP Beam Me Up We’ve tr
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Page 248 and 249: STAR HUSTLERS 237 That’s a tall o
Page 250 and 251: STAR HUSTLERS 239 the names aren’
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Page 254 and 255: STAR HUSTLERS 243 The star “Phili
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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
Page 277 and 278: 266 INDEX “Astrology: Science or
Page 279 and 280: 268 INDEX earthquakes, 130, 182 pla
Page 281: 270 INDEX Islam, 58-59 “It’s Sp
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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