Hello all. While I am by no means as "in the know" as everyone else on this forum I do love the astronomy cast episodes. Being a poor college student I dont even own a telescope , but reading and learning about astrophysics, cosmology, and astronomy has always been a passion of mine. (BTW...I think Dr. Gay and Fraser should be the model that college professors are required to follow...very nice teaching style). Anyways, I was reading earlier today on the astronomynow.com website about a possible new theory of the Universe, or rather of Gravity; a five-dimensional theory that would stray away from Einstein's theory of relativity. This seems very interesting to me and was wondering if, at some point in the future when more evidence is presented, you would be willing to do a show about it. If not, atleast maybe post your thoughts on the idea. The article was a bit vague, but like I said it seems very interesting.

"The theory holds that the visible universe is a membrane (hence "braneworld") embedded within a larger universe, much like a strand of filmy seaweed floating in the ocean." -DUKE AND RUTGERS UNIVERSITIES NEWS RELEASE Posted: May 29, 2006


P.S. What type of telescope/lenses would you recommend for a low budget, casual star gazer? There seem to be endless amounts of them depending on budget/location and I can never figure out what to do look for. (I live in a slightly bright city, Charlotte N.C.)

Thanks again for your time and I hope I haven't broken any rules by posting this here