To ALL whom it may concern Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

[Toutatis]

Profound apologies in advance to all whom this does NOT concern! - This highly O.T. post is being placed on this board & forum SOLELY because same are the 'venue' of my industrial strength stupidity (To wit: public release of my Yahoo email addy) -- Indeed the entire problem may owe to ‘lurkers’...

I released my Yahoo Addy because secure configuration of my FW (NPF) disallows (direct) access to many PHP features CIP ‘private message forums’ (a documented PHP/NPF 'bug' - ['fragmented' IP packets and falsely-identified ads/’spyware’ being the most common 'objections'])
Well... Here's the deal --- Following release of said address I have received well in excess of 2,000 spurious messages to my Yahoo account - in most cases logically 'traceable' - via subject alone - to my posts here --- But now, somehow, my *HOME ADDY* (Unpublished *anywhere*) is coming ‘under fire’ :( - In point of fact my ISP-provided e-mail account is effectively 'locked up' in that my download capability (56kb *max*) is unable to 'keep up’ with the 'onslaught' - The upshot (apart from the obvious) being that I now stand a chance of being temporally ‘pulled’ http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_evil.gif

So why am I so 'popular'??? – Well, based upon a ‘random sampling’ – It would seem to 'break down' as per the order of my following 'advisories': (i.e. '1' indicating the most frequent content...)

1) To those whom support "me" (do note the quotes) - Thank you for your refreshing espousal of the principles of free speech, daring to ask 'why?' and your all-around intelligence!!! (By Jove! I believe there's hope for our species yet! :D) - However please be advised: I am NOT Susan Sarandon!!!

2) To those whom oppose and/or offer "me" abuse (again, please note the quotes) --- I must say that I find it more than slightly disturbing that you regard the posing of legitimate questions and, indeed, THINKING for oneself as "anti-American", etc... --- That said please be advised: I am NOT Susan Sarandon!!!

3) My selection of 'Toutatis' as a ‘screen-pseudonym’ owed merely to its, as I see it, humorous, application to a forum, having; "the sky is falling!!!" (or, rather, the debunking thereof) as its central theme ;) - That said please be advised: I claim NO ownership in 4179 Toutatis, NOR do I exercise any manner of control over said object!!! --- Moreover I possess no 'special' or 'inside' info Re: Toutatis!!!

I hope this will put a halt to correspondence founded upon genuine misapprehension ---- Oh! Yes!!! - genuine sincerity was manifest in even a few missives coming under category three!?!? http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif)

All of which is to say ***PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK!!!***

With respect and warm regards
Dan Sarandon

[N C More]

Gee...I guess this means you aren't Susan Sarandon. So, are you her brother then?....Just kidding! I hope this disclaimer will clear up the whole thing.

BTW, what's this, you don't own 4179 Toutatis? :wink:

[Maksutov]

Dammit, Janet! I thought you were great in The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Some of your performances since then have been pretty good too. Plus you ran a really mean baseball team.

I never would have guessed that you also own your own asteroid! Talk about a liberated woman! Guess big-name "stars" can do that.

:wink:

[TriangleMan]

You mean all this time Toutatis really wasn't Susan Sarandon? Uh Dan, if you see an email from Bermuda requesting an autographed picture, just delete it. :lol:

[Jerod S. V2.0]

Dan,
I'm not one of those who's e-mailed you. However, since the opportunity has presented itself, I'd like to add my kudos to you to be filed alongside those responsible for category #1, as outlined in your post. =D>
I've an interest in a myriad of topics considered "fringe". Some of the resources I use to stay abreast of such topics contain questionable material alongside the legitimate. Among the former recently has been the impending passage of Toutatis this September.
My 'B.S. Detector' has improved dramatically since I began exploring the 'Net, but every so often an issue arises that causes me (what ultimately proves to be undue) concern. Rumors re: Touty were among those.
However (here's the kudos...finally! 8-[ ), as a direct result of *your* posts on the topic, I've decided I should probably worry more about where my vote will go this November than about Touty giving us grief. Simply put, thank you. (Obviously others have contributed to the greater awareness of all visiting this BB re: Toutatis, but your commentaries have consistently been the most enlightening to myself.) We now return to the regularly scheduled on-topic threads...
Thanks,
Jerod S.

[Amadeus]

Are you sure you're not Susan Sarandon?

I mean have you checked?
:D

[Sammy]

Another of my dreams dies! :(

[TriangleMan]

Wait! If Toutatis is not Susan Sarandon . . . then who is? 8-[

[Swift]

Wait! If Toutatis is not Susan Sarandon . . . then who is? 8-[
Tim Robbins?

[Toutatis]

Thanks all for the pleasant replies! --- I apologize that I must seem to lack a sense of humor (Re: confusion of my identity) - I realize that, by comparison with the difficulties life not-uncommonly throws one's way, mine is trivial in the extreme! - Still, a circa quarter century's mistaken and/or 'associated' identity is as the proverbial pebble in one's shoe... :(

Again I have no reason to believe anyone here is responsible for my e-mail woes...

Contritely
Dan Sarandon

[The Bad Astronomer]

I fail to see why this was posted here.

[Killshot]

I fail to see why this was posted here.

Because Susan Sarandon controlls planet x
the fate of the earth is in her hands!

[Toutatis]

'The BA' remarked/inquired:

I fail to see why this was posted here.

Merely because it was upon this forum that I (in retrospect, injudiciously) posted my Yahoo addy - triggering the flood of e-mail described above - I felt that a post here stood the best chance of viewership by the culpable parties - even if 'lurkers'. Moreover, if as I suspect, said e-mail ‘difficulties’ are indeed owed primarily to 'lurkers', experience has shown that any ’sane’ post on "their” board is 'flooded into oblivion' within minutes...

FWIW, based on 'timing', my post here has significantly reduced my e-mail traffic…

Even so I appreciate your stance Re: off topic discussions! - Please know it was not my intent to create a thread! - Still I freely own all responsibly therefor :(

Know also that I vigorously (if vainly) attempted to 'extinguish the fire' from the 'e-mail end' prior to recourse to a post here --- That said I regret the distraction created - for which I offer sincere apologies...

By all means *please* 'lock away'! :-)

Most sincerely
Dan Sarandon

[Lurker]

Thanks all for the pleasant replies! --- I apologize that I must seem to lack a sense of humor (Re: confusion of my identity) - I realize that, by comparison with the difficulties life not-uncommonly throws one's way, mine is trivial in the extreme! - Still, a circa quarter century's mistaken and/or 'associated' identity is as the proverbial pebble in one's shoe... :(

Again I have no reason to believe anyone here is responsible for my e-mail woes...

Contritely
Dan Sarandon
Hey... its ok Sue... we all have days like that...
I thought you were GREAT in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

If its not too much to ask, I would like your autograph...
I wouldn't ask, but its not for me... its for my brother...

8)


( Are we gunna get this thread locked??? :-k )

[Ut]

Locked or not, I'm calling Dan Sue from now on.

[Charlie in Dayton]

I can see Tooter and the BA settling this like the gennamuns they are, "...kickin' and a-gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer..."...

...Johnny Cash and Shel Silverstein must be L'ing their A's Off watching this...

[Toutatis]

Hey Charlie!!!

Just the dude I need to talk to!!! :D --- *PLEASE* advise me as to geographic location and (minimum) optical instrumentation requirement (i.e. Mag. factor and aperture) applicable to decent viewing of 4179 Toutatis during its upcoming Earth CE!?!? --- I am willing to travel to any (reasonably accessible, politically stable) location and wish to hold my spending to no more than $25,000 (USD) on said equipment (Is this realistic?) - Images are not important! It is my desire to view Toutatis in real time at better than 'point source' resolution - FWIW I calculate Toutatis will subtend ~ 170 microdegrees as viewed from Earth at CE (~1,550,000 km)...

Please note that I am possessed of ZERO astronomical observational skill http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_redface.gif hence reference to constellations, etc. would be of no assistance to me - What I request is citation of location, time of day, azimuth and elevation...

Many thanks in advance for any info you may offer!!! :D

Very best regards
Dan Sarandon

[Charlie in Dayton]

Quickie first impressions --
Somewhere on the Equator or southwards...Toutatis will vary in Dec during the period 27Sept - 2 Oct from -39 thru -62 back up to -18. The Northern Hemisphere will have a tough time with this one. In addition, at its brightest it will only be a mag8.9 object. A spotlight this ain't...

Quoting Astronomy Now:
"...at closest approach, possibly reaching 8th magnitude, it speeds through the southern skies well below the Sagittarius Teapot and the Scorpion's Sting, passing through Telescopium, Triangulum Australe and Centarus, and very close to Alpha Centauri...After passing near the Southern Cross, it heads back north, gliding through Hydra, Crater, and Sextans, and within 27 degrees of the Sun..." I hesitate to reproduce the chart in Astronomy Now in possible violation of copyright...

Minimum optical instrumentation? Great-grandma's opera glasses might cut the mustard...I dunno on this one. At a guess, something in the 3" - 4" range, f10 or less, the less mag the better to begin...I'd guess start with 20x or so, and move up to maybe 75x max...better than point source is gonna be tough, 'cause this thing ain't too much more than a point. Remember, aperture is king, especially as you go up in power.

Here's a web site with better info:
NASA/JPL Asteroid Observations (http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/4179_Toutatis/toutatis.html)

Go here for RA/Dec -- first link is the best! (http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=322174#322174)

A public or university observatory somewhere may be having a public program...an astronomy society in some particular area might be having a public stargaze...

Beyond this, Dan, a general SOS to the higher-zoot astro-types around here is needed.

What say, gang -- can ya help a poor stargazer figger out how to see his nom de AFOV??