From:   SMTP%"WALLER@halva.gsfc.nasa.gov"  2-MAY-1995 11:59:16.68
To:     DEBATE
CC:
Subj:   RE: 75th Anniv. Astronomical Debate

Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 11:59:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: WALLER@halva.gsfc.nasa.gov
To:   DEBATE@grossc.gsfc.nasa.gov
Message-Id: <950502115907.6a8004de@halva.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: RE: 75th Anniv. Astronomical Debate

I found the debate both stimulating and uplifting.  The latter sentiment derives
 from the manner in which the debate was carried out.  Both debaters managed
to educate without condescension, wrangle without getting mean-spirited, and
look to future prospects with a certain degree of humility.  All this bodes well
for the process of science and the public's perception of it.  Putting on my
critic's hat, I found both debaters to resort to rhetorical statements which
really did not add to the substance of the debate.  They also omitted
other possibilities for the origin of the gamma ray bursters.  Many of us would
have appreciated some explanation for not considering an Oort Cloud scenario.
What has occurred within the scientific community to rule out this option?
I was also confused by the absence of any discussion concerning a primordial
population of neutron stars in the halo.  Such a population could arise from thestarburst that may have formed the Galactic halo ~10 billion years ago.
The supernovae need not have kicked them so hard, allowing them to remain bound
to the Galaxy.  What's wrong with old neutron stars as potential sources of
gamma rays?  (When I mention the halo, I mean the entire spheroidal component...
including the bulge).  The same arguments that Lamb used to get the disk
neutron stars into the halo could be used with neutron stars originating in the
bulge.  Keep the velocities below escape velocity, and you could have a nice
halo population of neutron stars whose observed near-isotropy could satisfy
the observed distribution.  Moreover, the some of the observed relation between
luminosity and burst duration could be ascribed to mechanisms similar to those
observed with Galactic novae... such that the most luminous novae have the
shortest durations.
        That's it for now.  Thank you for inviting me to participate in this
stimulating scientific event.
        Bill Waller, NASA/GSFC, Code 681, Greenbelt, MD  20771