It is amazing, isn't it, doubletruncation? I think that many myths and misunderstandings about space persist because people just never look at it. They think there's no point (it's too hard to see anything) or that it's too difficult to understand. And both are untrue.<br /><br />Many people, even highly educated engineers, do not realize that you can see satellites with the naked eye.<br /><br />Many people have never seen a sundog, sun halo, or other similar atmospheric effect, even in places where they are common.<br /><br />Many people don't realize that the Sun and Moon appear to have the same angular diameter, though it should be obvious.<br /><br />Many people are unfamiliar with the variety of clouds, thinking there is really only one basic type.<br /><br />Many people have no idea that the Big Dipper is always visible in the northern hemisphere, but many other constellations are not.<br /><br />Many people have never seen the Moon in daylight.<br /><br />Hardly anyone realizes that the lit side of the Moon must always face the Sun, including highly paid artists and special effects wizards, who insert moons into movie shots and do it wrong -- and not just for artistic license, but because they genuinely haven't noticed the effect or realized why it's that way. (This is worth special note, because artists study light and shadow. They really have no excuse for not applying their education to the Moon.)<br /><br />And most people have never seen the aurora.<br /><br />It is really amazing what people don't notice in the sky. Things huge, plainly visible, and seemingly impossible to miss, escape the attention of millions of people every day and night. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em> -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>