Planets Millions of Light Years away!

[Hale_Bopp]

There was a fire at the South Florida Musuem's Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton, Florida. There is doubt as to weather the planetarium will re-open. The paper published an editorial in support of the planetarium with the following quote :

"The permanent loss of Bishop Planetarium would be a severe blow to Manatee County and to the South Florida Museum complex. Unlike the fixed exhibits in the museum, the planetarium's main exhibit - the solar system - is ever-changing. The planetarium's observatory brought the dry pages of textbooks to life, providing a breath-taking close-up look at planets millions of light years away."

I wasn't aware of any planets visible millions of light years away!

The entire editorial is posted at

http://web.bradentonherald.com/content/bradenton/2001/11/13/opinion/1113planetariumed_8CW.htm

Rob

[Russ]

That's a good one. Obviously someone had a bit of a lapse, confusing lightyears for miles.

Did you send them a note so they could correct it if possible?

[GrapesOfWrath]

On 2001-11-13 08:23, Hale_Bopp wrote:
I wasn't aware of any planets visible millions of light years away!
Not only that, but a "breath-taking close-up look" at them. The mind boggles--that Keyhole technology must be really something. Have you emailed the responsible parties? I'm sure that they would be interested.

[Hale_Bopp]

Yes, I emailed them. I even know that one of the volunteer observaotry operators in Bradenton is in the newsroom at the Bradenton Herald. I can't remember if he is in on writing the editorials, but I would guess he wasn't in on this one at least!

Rob

[Hale_Bopp]

Okay, I wrote the paper about their error. They printed a "correction" today which did little to improve the situation.

"The reference should have been "stars millions of light years away," not planets. - Ed"

I know that we can resolve stars in other galaxies on the order of millions of light years away, but not with an 8 inch telescope in the downtown of a mid-size city!

Rob