Culture: Tourist Attraction: Astronomy
MOON gazing   (+4, -7)  [vote for, against]
a night time tourist attraction for any city.

ROLL UP! ROLL UP! See the one of the marvels of the universe right now, just step up here to see this stunning celestial body. Just 238,855 miles from the Earth is this amazing sight and you can see it NOW in its entire splendor. An amazing 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of solid rock spinning around our precious planet kept in check only by the miracle of GRAVITY.

You have one friend with a high-powered telescope pointed towards the Moon on a clear night.

ROLL UP! ROLL UP! Donate only what you think it is worth after you have viewed this amazing sight. See the curve of this ball as the sun hits it and see the individual craters from multiple collisions. The moon that affects our tides and moods is a thing of beauty to behold, ROLL UP! ROLL UP!

Anyone who looks through will have to agree to donate a small amount of currency as the Moon is an amazing thing and with a decent telescope will nock their socks off. Watch the money roll in and see the awe on the faces of people that never normally look up. Everyones a winner....

http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/moon_obs.htm
-- vocalbill, Nov 16 2004

Vocalbill's link as a link http://www.astrosur...25624?1100620927046
Moon watching magazine. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 16 2004]

If you need a telescope to appreciate the moon, you seriously need to get your eyes checked. Even with all the light pollution in a big city, you shouldn't have any trouble seeing it.

How about a remote-controlled virtual telescope? Hook a telescope-shaped viewing device with a high-resolution display to a video feed from a real telescope somewhere out in the boondocks, away from light pollution.
-- Freefall, Nov 16 2004


This way to the Egress.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 16 2004


[freefall]I live in London and you dont need to get away from the light pollution top see the moon. Only the stars are a problem. In fact i have seen the rings of Saturn perfectly well (although through the Grenwich Observatory Telescope). So why fart about with a 'remote-controlled virtual telescope' when all you need to see the Moon in CLOSE UP, is a telescope. Then you can really see the craters and the angles of light. Fantastic. And i agree that you dont NEED a telescope to appreciate the moon, however, people that dont look up will look up in the future and appreciate this amazing sight for what it is.
-- vocalbill, Nov 16 2004


Do I have this right? The idea is to charge people to look at the moon through a friend's telescope?
-- half, Nov 16 2004


[half] dead on, thus eventually enabling you to buy your own (more powerfull) telescope...
-- vocalbill, Nov 16 2004


Somebody does this already on saturdays and sundays. People love it and I think it is a creative way of self employment and a great way to make people more curious about the world surrounding them. It works here. Baked, though.
-- Pericles, Nov 16 2004


[pericles]

exactly - 'to make people more curious about the world surrounding them'

by the way, where are you?
-- vocalbill, Nov 16 2004


I'm in Mexico city. Welcome to the Halfbakery, [vocalbill]. Although baked, I like your idea. Sometimes people overheat their brains looking for really complex concepts for new ideas, when most human beings haven't even seen some of the already existing marvels. [+]
-- Pericles, Nov 16 2004


another great thing is to look at insects through a microscope. Also brilliant.

by the way, Mexico rocks
-- vocalbill, Nov 16 2004


I can see this probably working outside of a opera house on a clear night, then rewarding the moon gazers for their generosity with a plastic Clanger to hang from the rear view mirror of their cars.

Or even a piece of cheese.
-- skinflaps, Nov 16 2004


//....most human beings haven't even seen some of the already existing marvels....// Pericles, how am I supposed to argue against this idea when you go and say something like that?

Can't we suggest that the idea should involve a Really Big Lens set in the middle of the London Eye, or create some kind of Moon-based camera obscura thing or something?
-- zen_tom, Nov 16 2004


//Pericles, how am I supposed to argue against this idea when you go and say something like that? //

Now, [zen_tom], does that mean what I said is good or bad?

//another great thing is to look at insects through a microscope//

Well, thank's for the suggestion [vocalbill], but I'll stick to observing the inanimated characters of the universe, those who won't give me nightmares :)
-- Pericles, Nov 16 2004


We should all be spending more time marveling and making the most of the wonders of the world, wherever we find them, whether they might be majestic and spectacular, or routinely mundane.

Those sentiments make it difficult for me to critisise this idea. For the record [Pericles] and [Vocalbill], I think having this approach is one of the most admirable qualities a person can have. So yes [Pericles], what you said is good.
-- zen_tom, Nov 16 2004


Our universe is an amazing realm with tons of things to see, the moon being just as fascinating as everything else out there. But as [Pericles] said, this is baked--not only in the way she mentioned, but the observatory in Los Angeles is free (or used to be, I haven't been there in a couple of years).
-- Machiavelli, Nov 16 2004


I read this idea as "remind everyone how great the moon is", rather than "charge people money to look thorugh a cheap telescope". Maybe that's just my outlook, but [+] anyway.
-- wagster, Nov 16 2004


I applaud the sentiment, but bone the non-idea.
-- lostdog, Nov 16 2004


M-O-O-N that spells moon.
-- gnomethang, Nov 16 2004


Laws yes.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 18 2004


You're scaring me now.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 18 2004



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