CONTACT

Caroluna · Post by **Caroluna** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:50 pm

After more than a month of doing silly things to the Astronomy Picture of the Day, today I received an e-mail from one of the astronomers.

The note said "Hey, what are you doing to my picture?"

After my heart rate had lowered enough for me to be functional, I approached my DH rather tentatively and said "So....if I went to jail, would you bail me out?"

"Depends. I guess so, if it were $ 200 or less."

With this comforting thought in mind, I wrote to the astronomer saying that I'd be glad to remove the image from Chiff.

I received a very polite note from him saying that although he wasn't sure if "tweaking" APOD pictures was generally permissible, he was OK with this case as long as I didn't sell it, and didn't mind him using my image!

Whew!

So-- They Come In Peace

The astronomer is Dr. Graeme White, and he's from Oz.
Here's some snips from his webpage.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/a ... home.shtml

Graeme White wrote:Like all amateurs I needed a bigger telescope, so I ground a 6 inch mirror in the third (and very academically important) year of High School, and ruined my academic performance that year. [...]

I graduated with a BSc in 1974 [...] I then moved to Sydney University and took a MSc and then a PhD. True to form, when the effort was needed for the PhD, I decided that I needed a bigger telescope so I bought a 17.5 inch mirror from Coulter Optics and built the “big-Dob Mk I”. I was obsessed with Telescope Making magazine even though I knew that it was no good for me and that it would eventually lead to my downfall. [...]

The big-Dob was a success until it was taken to the dump by accident. It was used for teaching and it was the center piece of the Mount Wilson nights that were run through Sydney WEA. Lucky for me, the optics were not in the telescope during its death throws. The big-Dob has been reborn in recent days and is now in Wagga Wagga where the skies are clear and dark, and where it will be the second instrument for the Wagga Wagga Observatory- see below. [...]

In 1990 I joined the University of Western Sydney (UWS) Nepean in the Physics Department, and in 1997 I formed the Nepean Centre for Astronomy. I built the Nepean Observatory with financial help from the Australian Government. It is a fabulous observatory and I know of nothing like it in the world. The Centre was very successful, and created the worlds first Internet Master’s degree in Astronomy (the AIM), Australia’s first Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy (the B.Astro) and in Space Sciences (B.Space Sciences), as well as graduating several PhD graduates who are all developing better careers than that of their old “professor”. [...]

In 2002 I joined forces with colleagues in Wagga Wagga with the intention of building an observatory in the city. These are good guys (we are all good guys) and the observatory will be a fabulous asset for the city. I will supply the telescope, the council has supplied the land, and the rest will come as a result of hard work.

Graeme White with the big brass (3 inch) telescope and pretending to be James Cook.

So!! we have made contact with a new life form-- an Australian Astronomer.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:46 am

You didn't know you were engaged in the
Search for Extra-Continental Life?

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:02 am

You're allowed to use copyright protected material for purposes of parody, so I reckon you're covered anyway.

I'd hope the guys at NASA and those who's pictures NASA use on the APOD site would view your changes in the spirit intended. Light hearted humour (firefox has underlined this, despite me constantly telling it I'm not American, grr) with lots of respect for the original images and their subjects.

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:48 am

I was wondering why they called it the Australian Telescope National Facility instead of the Australian National Telescope Facility, when I realized it was because they didn't want to be referred to as ANTFac.

djm

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:13 am

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:20 am

How did he find your picture???
Was it posted elsewhere?

Silvano · Post by **Silvano** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:04 pm

Fool's day is tomorrow, is it?

Silvano

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:51 pm

You should explain that you use your prodigious skills for good, to which fact I can attest should the need arise.

While you're at it, see if they can be a little more clear about those explanations. I had more than the usual difficulty with that shoebox one the other day. The one filled with red squiggles that purportedly made the strings connecting the blue balls sag all over. Do they make this stuff up or what?

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:04 pm

Dr. Graeme White's picture was selected to be an APoD.
I doubt that he was consulted for input in the writing of the of the one that you are talking about.

APoD has a bulletin board, there is a APoD forum there.

Link is part of their standard footer, Discuss

jw wren · Post by **jw wren** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:55 am

Goodness Caroluna contact from the other side.

I don't know that I'd call your interpetations parody... more like revelations of the spirit of the image.

Let's face it - I for one wouldn't look so closely at the APOD if it weren't for the challenge of trying to figure out what could be made of it - I'd sat you are performing an educational service.

I'm sure your images will liven up Dr W's lecture slides!!

PS: We do have lovely dark skies here in Oz. On a good night you can even see black holes with the naked eye.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:01 am

That's nothing. I see black holes every morning .... oh ... wait .... those are my eyes squinting back at me like two pee-holes in the snow.

djm

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:32 am

djm wrote:... like two pee-holes in the snow.

How..... poetic.

Caroluna · Post by **Caroluna** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:32 am

jw wren wrote:
PS: We do have lovely dark skies here in Oz. On a good night you can even see black holes with the naked eye.

That sounds awe-inspiring. It might even be a religious experience..... to see the holey skies of Australia!

I'm sure your images will liven up Dr W's lecture slides!!

It said in the article about him that he was working to set up an observatory in Wagga Wagga. Have you heard anything (in the news etc) about that?

Caroluna · Post by **Caroluna** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:13 am

jw wren wrote: Let's face it - I for one wouldn't look so closely at the APOD if it weren't for the challenge of trying to figure out what could be made of it - I'd sat you are performing an educational service.

I wasn't particularly interested in astronomy either-- my background is in insects / plants so I'm not used to looking up

After a year of hanging out at C & F and reading Denny's daily link to the APOD site, I've gotten much more enthused about it.

Just last night I caught this on TV--

first season available at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Complete ... 009&sr=1-1

Last night's episode was about nebulas. As they showed images of different nebulas (nebulae?) I kept saying "oooh! oooh! I recognize that one!" Part of the show is mini-interviews with different astronomers. Jerry Bonnell spoke several times. "oooh! oooh! I recognize that name!" Turns out, he's one half of the APOD team.

I don't know if the whole series is as good as that one episode, but I give it two thumbs up. Beautifully filmed, a little effusive in places but not over-the-top. Very informative, well-organized (they discussed each of the 5 types of nebulae in turn). There were some computer-generated sequences, but not too many. My favorite part last night was when they explained what "false color images" mean. I guess I'd been thinking that many of them were tinted in a way that would make them look pretty. Apparently though, there's a standard way of representing the colors. If you could see these colors with the naked eye (they're normally too faint), oxygen gives a blue light, hydrogen is a dark red and sulphur a lighter red. These colors are photographically tweaked so that each element is assigned a primary color, making it easier to distinguish which element is abundant where. I think they called it "the Hubble palette".

And I have to admit, I liked the effusive parts, where the astronomers gushed about how much they love what they are studying!

jw wren · Post by **jw wren** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:26 pm

Caroluna asked: It said in the article about him that he was working to set up an observatory in Wagga Wagga. Have you heard anything (in the news etc) about that?

http://www.waggawaggaobservatory.com.au/

The observatory is long established but it appears that what he's establishing is a community observatory - I'm not quite sure what that is - perhaps only scientists get time on the telescope at the main facility?

I note that the project is sponsored by Dr G Wren - now that's getting wierd.

JW