Jesuit priest debunked the lunar breathable atmosphere theory!

As early as in the 18th century direct observations ruled out the presence of any significant atmosphere on the Moon. A talented scientist, and a papal science advisor in Vatican, Roger Boscovich, produced many singificant results that inspired later works of such luminaries as Faraday and Einstein:

en.wikipedia.org...

A scientist par excellence, Mr.Boscovich, via his observations of the moon, determined that there was no atmosphere there:
astroprofspage.com...

His contributions to the field of astronomy were acknowledged and a crater on the Moon was named after him:
en.wikipedia.org...

I very much doubt that a Jesuit papal advisor in the 18th century was under duress to lie about the Moon from an evil agency called NASA from mid-20th century, despite waht John Lear may or may not claim.

John, thanks for reading this.




[edit on 19-11-2007 by buddhasystem]

Hmm. I just watched a lecture from John regarding the moon, where he mentioned a basic test for measuring any level of atmosphere there may be there. So... what say Mr. Lear?

I don't suppose NASA smudged out the atmosphere, too... haha. Well, of all the things I've heard about the moon, I must say, the atmosphere bit still doesn't sit well with me, so I'm still uncertain. I'll be curious to keep track of this thread, though it's likely to go over my head in a short period of time

Originally posted by eaurouge
I'll be curious to keep track of this thread, though it's likely to go over my head in a short period of time

No it won't. It's a simple matter, you see -- astronomers were trying to detect the lunar atmosphere and it was not found. Anyone with a decent scope can do the same nowadays.

Uh-oh, spaghettios .... Joooooohn... are you suuuure about that atmosphere bit?

It just occured to me that John himself has a half decent telecope which is likely a vast improvement over anything that existed in the 18th century.

So there it is, in plain view -- John can easily prove his claims by direct observation! Heck, maybe that genius Jesuit astronomer was wrong...


[edit on 19-11-2007 by buddhasystem]

Something one needs to keep in mind is that the "church" has always had a vested interest in declaring that the earth is the only planet with life on it. So,this "revelation" is really not a revelation at all.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Something one needs to keep in mind is that the "church" has always had a vested interest in declaring that the earth is the only planet with life on it. So,this "revelation" is really not a revelation at all.

Except these have since become routine observations for many amatuers

John has a scope, it's entirely in his power to make an observation. You sure aren't implying that he has a vested interest in concealing the lunar atmosphere?

SpeakerOfTruth has a point. ET life was just as taboo in my Protestant schools and churches growing up as it is in our government stateside. Not to say this particular fellow was right or wrong in what he came across, but SOT has a point worthy of being acknowledged. Thanks!

Originally posted by buddhasystem
You sure aren't implying that he has a vested interest in concealing the lunar atmosphere?

What vested interest would he have in the moon having an atmosphere? Now, if you want to claim that he is just making this claim for attention, then so be it. However, he has no vested interest in the moon having an atmosphere.

[edit on 19-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

reply to post by eaurouge


Thank you. You can even mention the possibility of possible alien life to the typical church goer and they look at you like you're an alien.

Originally posted by eaurouge
SpeakerOfTruth has a point. ET life was just as taboo in my Protestant schools and churches growing up as it is in our government stateside. Not to say this particular fellow was right or wrong in what he came across, but SOT has a point worthy of being acknowledged. Thanks!

As I said, the Moon is quite a popular object for observations and any amatuer skywatcher can reproduce the Boscovich's result.

PS. Boscovich was an expert in optics and astronomy, and contributed to atomic theory.

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


OK, fine. John is absolutely certain that the Moon has breathable atmosphere. That's what I meant.

Originally posted by buddhasystem
John is absolutely certain that the Moon has breathable atmosphere.

If he wants to be absolutely "certain" that pigs fly that is his choice. However, I don't really see your point. People are "certain" of a lot of things that are obviously not true... He can believe whatever he wants.. However, until he shows me for certain that it does, it really means little to me.

[edit on 19-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Not to stray too far from topic, but I will add to that... I have a friend who used to be an excellent, objective, albeit a bit cynical free thinker who was excellent at weighing evidence and motives. Now college is over, he has settled down to a mediocre job, a wife whose family is fairly fundamentalist, and when I sat down and talked to him about ETs, I realized his entire mind seemed void of an ability to think outside the box, weigh obvious evidence, and think objectively. I used his arguments against my statements on what he believes, and he crumbled. It was just sad... goes to show how the "system," where we are all so busy-busy with work, school, church, and distractions, manages to dumb us down in ways truly worrying when viewed from the outside. Yikes!

Originally posted by eaurouge
goes to show how the "system," where we are all so busy-busy with work, school, church, and distractions, manages to dumb us down in ways truly worrying when viewed from the outside.

Exactly! Some people are willing to swallow anything that's thrown at them, without common sense or proof whatsoever.

Now, to observations of the moon by amatuers -- you can google it up, but jsut as a sampler:
spaceweather.com...

There is tons of this stuff out there. The Moon is probably the most observed celestial body, and never there was an evidence found of a breathable atmosphere.

eaurouge, unfortunately, the art of thinking for oneself is under attack from all aspects of society. Religion, politics, schools, teachers, et cetera, are all in a concerted effort, at least it seems, to prevent the average person from making upo his/her own mind up about anything, really.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
eaurouge, unfortunately, the art of thinking for oneself is under attack from all aspects of society. Religion, politics, schools, teachers, et cetera, are all in a concerted effort, at least it seems, to prevent the average person from making upo his/her own mind up about anything, really.

Most teachers I met (and I admit I'm lucky) were trying to encourage curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Physics class and all the fun experiments we did were a true highlight of my school years. I can't imagine a physics teacher trying to quell that. Now, it's still up to the student to make an effort and learn. If the will is not there, and/or the learning process was suboptimal, the person't ability to judge the fact pertaining to space flight, astronomy and science in general will be limited.

Sidenote to Buddha: I'm not taking any one side aggressively right now, though I personally doubt the atmosphere claim of John quite a bit for a handful of reasons. I'm simply waiting for his reply on the matter to get his take.

reply to post by buddhasystem

I agree with John Lear in that there is a breathable atmosphere on the Moon. Most people seem to make the asumption that any life on the Moon can only be considered to be on the surface as seen by us, well once upon a time that may well have been so. It's worth reading Galileo's Siderius Nuncius, a translation of which is still in print, it's also worth reading Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision.
Because I believe the Moon to be an artificial structure built over a smaller celestial body, I think it most likely that given it's great age, there has been plenty of time to terraform the interior and create an atmosphere within. The outer surface of the Moon, I would expect only to have a very light atmosphere which may not be as evident as our own.
Clearly the Moon has been inhabited for a very long time, if you doubt this, then take a look at John Lear's Copernicus photo's and observe the sheer scale of derelict mining equipment that can be seen. If you are still not convinced, look at the alien[Moon] craft to be seen my thread[spacecraft evident in clementine photo's].
One last thing, some years back, I found, after much searching, a high resolution photo of the farside of the moon, after zooming in and searching every inch I found a circular craft parked near the top of the photo, some industrial waste dumped in a 'crater' and I roared with laughter when I saw what looked like a woman JOGGING ! [no spacesuit] This photo, as I recall, did not have a library number, it was simply captioned 'Far side of the Moon'.

I believe the moon is made out of cheese.