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Strategies & Market Trends : Waiting for the big Kahuna -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chip McVickar who wrote (19323)	5/28/1998 12:10:00 PM
From: Defrocked	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 94695

With all the nuclear weapons being tested and inventoried on this rock, astronomers should be encouraged to find additional, potentially inhabitable, planets a tad bit closer than 450 light years. <ng>

To: Chip McVickar who wrote (19323)	5/28/1998 2:01:00 PM
From: James F. Hopkins	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 94695

Chip; OT Thanks for the news about the Astronomers, I'm a far cry from being one but the subject has fascinated me from the time I started as a navigator, and became a SF fan. I have known of the discovery for some time but I guess this changes it from the alleged status to an official status. In my mind for the last 30 years there has never been any doubt that many solar systems must exist in the universe, and if you could look at the enormous amount of stars you would likely not doubt it either. I also have no doubt there are other life forms in the universe, and likely just as advanced or maybe more so than we are but whether humans will last long enough to ever contact any of them is very questionable. <G> There was a place in Nevada I happened to camp at one time on a trip I was making to the west coast..it happened that there was no moon out that night , and this place had crystal clear sky's , and even the upper atmosphere was without any type of haze, ( it never can happen at sea to get such a clear view of the heavens ) any way what I saw awed me in a way I have not the words to describe, to any one who has not seen the heavens with the naked eye and in such panoramic splendor that to me was more inspiring than any view one could have of say the grand canyon or other such wonder. AS that night I saw stars in such number and magnitude that I simply sent hours fascinated by the fact that here I was a celestial navigator of some years and had no idea of the enormous amount of stars that most people including my self never see. The effect of looking at them all at once ( with out the confines that are placed on the eye via the field vision of any type looking aid ). This effect gives the mind a sort of big panoramic picture, you can not capture any other way. Even stacking views from Hubbell together to form a huge picture will not impact the mind the same way as just the simple view unhindered and almost as clear as being out in space. I both envy and feel sorry for most astronauts, I think I can understand the feeling they must have when they view the heavens obstructed for the first time, and how once having that, knowing you can never fully share it with some one unless they could see it. Because it is so unbelievable that it is outside the limits of any mans imagination until they see it for themselves. Not just outside the limits of words mind you but outside the limits of imagination. It must be seen to comprehend it, and I doubt it could ever be understood by the viewer even if he lived to be a 1000 yrs old, it's just to much to comprehend in several life times. <G> I might be over stating the feeling it gave Astronauts as I have never asked one, and I realize that for several hours I focused my mind on nothing else, blocking out all concepts of time or were I was or were I was going or any responsibilities I simply merged with the heavens that night..or them with me. It was like I had stumbled onto a new world , but one that was so huge it caused me to forget there was even an earth , not only did it humble me, why it caused me to later say "earth is not even so much as a speck of dust in this universe " " heck our whole solar system might be even be compared to that of a single atom that would be a part of this earth..now try to count all the atoms that make up earth and you might get an idea of what my mind saw that night. There is a vast difference between describing eternity or even trying to imagine it, than there is to seeing it. I feel like I have seen Eternity and understand more than ever why it can not end. I looked across more "time" and all at one time that night more than any one will ever be able to describe. All the books that have ever been written or will be written on this earth could not contain what I saw that night , to even try it would bury all of us under huge mountains of books until there would be no place left on earth to find even a small niche left to live. And the oceans would be displaced with books as well, every resource the earth has would be used up in making the books, and still they could not describe what I saw. You can bet we are not alone NO WAY !!! Jim