Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1+some 2/3/84; site dual.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!dual!fair From: fair@dual.UUCP (Erik E. Fair) Newsgroups: net.followup Subject: Re: Alternate Energy & Microwaves Message-ID: <762@dual.UUCP> Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 23:45:10 EDT Article-I.D.: dual.762 Posted: Tue Aug 14 23:45:10 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 15-Aug-84 06:48:26 EDT References: <4196@utzoo.UUCP> <369@utastro.UUCP> Organization: Dual Systems, Berkeley, CA Lines: 38 >> From: nather@utastro.UUCP (Ed Nather) >> Subject: Re: Alternate Energy & Microwaves >> Date: Sun, 12-Aug-84 13:09:31 PDT >> >> c) If the Sunsat is put up it will be bright enough to rival the full moon, >> just from reflected light alone (the moon reflects ~8%, is bigger but is >> *much* farther away, and the inverse-square law does a bit of good) ... >> which means ground-based astronomy goes out of business, since most of the >> interesting observations of quasars, distant galaxies, black hole candidates >> and vibrating stellar corpses are confined to "dark time," when the moon is >> nearly aligned with the sun and the night sky is dark. Clearly the thing to do is put the astronomers up there in Reagan's Space Station, where the pesky atmosphere won't get in their way. After all, if we can put a few tons of Sunsat up, why not a few pounds of Astronomer? >> >> d) If all astronomers become shoe salesmen or zoologists then who will be >> watching when the Klingons come? >> That's easy: the astrologers! >> -- >> Ed Nather >> {allegra,ihnp4}!{ut-sally,noao}!utastro!nather >> Astronomy Dept., U. of Texas, Austin As a concession to netiquette: :-) Erik E. Fair ucbvax!fair fair@ucb-arpa.ARPA dual!fair@BERKELEY.ARPA {ihnp4,ucbvax,hplabs,decwrl,cbosgd,sun,nsc,apple,pyramid}!dual!fair Dual Systems Corporation, Berkeley, California