Astronomy Tower

[pippin_999]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...>
wrote:
> On 26 Jun 2005 at 7:03, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote:
> 
> > I just had a thought! Why do the kids have to go to the top of the
> > tallest tower to look at the stars, when they could look at the
> > ceiling of the Great Hall without getting cold and wet?
Shaun: 
> Well, they do use telescopes - and telescopes really can't be used 
> effectively astronomically speaking in heated environments - warm
air 
> 'shimmers' (you can often see this on really hot days), and if
you're 
> using a telescope in a warm room to look at distant astronomical 
> objects, the motion of the air within the room will have a
distorting 
> effect.


Pippin:
Besides that, if it's wet, the roof of the Great Hall will show only
clouds. I suppose the telescopes are magical and can look through real 
clouds, as well as compensate for the glare of the almost full moon 
which was shining during the astronomy exam in PoA.

Then too, I think even magical telescopes are probably delicate things
that wouldn't take well to being constantly moved aside to make way 
for the tables,  or being exposed to the grease and steam of food
service.

Pippin
who finally found out what 'without wax' means. I had this vague idea
it had something to do with surfing...silly me!