Beyond Terra...

Astronomy Jumpstart...

2009-05-13T17:08:00.003+08:00

I think one of the most effective ways to learn about constellations is to use simulation software. One of the most popular simulation software that astronomers like ti use is Starry Night Pro. These space simulation software allow astronomers to see the movements of planets as well as asteroids. Well, you might say that "Isn't this what astronomers are doing? Why do they need to use this simulation software anyway?". Yes, it's true but, astronomers are human too you know.

One special feature about this software is that it allows astronomers to simulate the movement of stars way back to years in BC! The software basically will do a simulation about the position of stars and planets for a particular time frame. But, I can't say that this simulation is 100% accurate. It is just a computer generated simulation to help us to have a better understanding of the universe that we are living in.

Unfortunately, Starry Night Pro will costs you money. If you cannot afford it, don't worry, there are still many alternatives out there which you can get for free! For example, I'm currently using Stellarium and Celestia.

So, try downloading them today to see the stars from your computer anywhere and anytime you want. In order for you to see the best results, you must set the location to the area that you are staying in or nearby area to yours. These software allows you to see a graphical representation of the constellations that can be seen in your area. So, using, this software, you can easily improve your constellation knowledge.

God Is Good

2009-05-08T12:50:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday, before I return to college, I attended a healing crusade held by FGB MFI(Full Gospel Businessman Man's Fellowship). At first, I thought that it would just be a normal healing event. But, something awesome happened that night! We (my family and I) brought our grandfather to this healing crusade. My grandfather suffered from stroke twice a few years back. So, he can't move some parts of his body. When it comes to his turn, a lot of people gather around to see whether a miracle will happen or not. Indeed a miracle did happened that night. After the speaker, Reverend Koo, prayed for him he's able to move his left fingers! Furthermore, he said there is no more pain whenever he tries to move them.

This is truly the work of our God! Praise the Lord for everything that he had done for me and my family. Truly our God is a God who care for His people. He will always satisfy our needs. All we need to do is believe in Him and let His will be done. This healing crusade really opened up my eyes to see the wonders that our God is able to make. Philippians 4:13 says "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." It is also stated in the bible in Matthew 17:20, He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." I think that we must learn to put our faith in Him and let Him do the rest. We tend to do things using our own abilities, rather than seeking God for help. This event really have a big impact in my walk with Him. I think if we do things based on our own abilities, we can only do ordinary things. But, if we begin to trust God, we can do extraordinary things in life. I hope that all of you will be blessed by my testimony. God bless.

Nebulae

2009-03-20T17:13:00.009+08:00

Sorry for the long wait. I've been quite busy with assignments and stuff. Now, I finally got the time to continue writing in my blog.

What is a Nebulae? Have you guys ever seen any nice cloud formation in astronomy pictures? Theses clouds or gases are actually a nebulae. A Nebulae is the birth place for stars. It is an astronomical entity that is made up of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma. Stars are form by the gravitational collapse of the nebulae. When it happens, the nebulae collapses under it's own weight and eventually stars will be formed in the center. For your information, some Nebulae are the remnants of a supernova.

The remnants of the nebulae is believed to form planets which will eventually form a solar system once these planets are attracted by the star's gravitational pull. This is how stars and planets are believed to be formed. These nebulae that we see are sites for new stars, planets or even solar systems! Despite the fact that they are the birth place for stars, they are also beautiful to the eye.

Source:
Wikipedia

International Woman's Day

2009-03-08T23:45:00.004+08:00

I would like to wish all ladies out there, Happy International Woman's Day! For those of you who might be asking whether this event is real or not, you should check out this site.

It falls on 8th March every year. It is celebrated every year to inspire women and to celebrate their successes. So, for those of you who just found out, there is still time to wish your girl friend, female friends and even your mother; Happy International Woman's Day!

2009 IWD Theme: Women and men united to end violence against women and girls

Sources:
International Women's Day

Searching For Aliens

2009-03-07T22:12:00.006+08:00

Maybe some of you may heard of the term SETI. It stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. It is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that is dedicated to search for aliens that may exists in other planets or solar systems. It is kind of interesting thing to do don't you think so? You may ask, how do check for alien presence in other planets or solar systems? They can't be using telescope can they?

Instead of using telescope, they deployed satellite dishes to detect signals emitted from other planets or solar systems. These are not the ordinary satellite dish like the one ASTRO uses. It is a bigger version of a normal satellite dish. These satellite dishes are used to detect infra red signals, radio signals, electromagnetic signals and etc.

Project Phoenix, the largest satellite dish in the world.

Satellites dishes used by SETI.

They also initiated a project known as SETI@home. The reason behind this project is to distribute data to computers around the world in order to compute them and then send the results back to SETI mainframe for further process. This method is known as distributed computing or cloud computing. This project is necessary because the amount of collected is huge and in order to compute the data, a high-end computer is needed. Instead, of buying a more powerful computer, SETI actually distribute these data to volunteers to computer them. This can totally save cost of buying a more powerful computer.

Anybody who is interested in helping SETI to compute their data, can actually register and then download a software to download and compute the necessary data. Don't worry, this software will not eat up all of your internet bandwidth. You can set the preferred settings. By default, it will run as a screen saver when your computer is idle for a period of time. The software will then do its job. If you are interested, you can visit this website, SETI@home.

Sources:
SETI
Wikipedia

It Is Done...

2009-03-06T10:52:00.003+08:00

Christian Awareness Week has finally came to an end yesterday. Phew... It was a very busy week for me. But at the same, it was an exciting one too. I have learned a lot in this particular even especially teamwork. In order for an event of this scale to be successful, teamwork is the most essential element. I would like to personally congratulate and thank every person in the CAW committee for making CAW a reality. I hope that ICF will organize this event again next year. I hope we can reach more people next year and the years to come. For pictures of the event, you can click here.

Now, I have to get back to my studies to catch up with all the revision that I have missed. I'm also planning to revive my blog soon. So, you can expect more interesting post from me soon, very soon. This is Benedict, signing out.

It Keeps Getting Busier..

2009-03-03T21:20:00.004+08:00

As you can see I did not post any topics last week. I've been quite busy with the Christian Awareness Week in my college. This is my first time I've been given a chance to be involved in helping out in a particular event. I'm very honoured to be given such opportunity. At least there is someone who really appreciate my skills. In my secondary school, most people only used me to get something done or if there is anything that went wrong. I feel kind of not appreciated. This may sound childish, but that is what I felt about it. Not every single one of my secondary school friends are bad, only some of them. The others are the people that I can really call as friend.

I really thank God that I chose this college. I've found what I can call friends here. They are a group of people that really want what is best for me. That is what friends are supposed to be. Friends are people that can either bring you up or bring you down. So, we really have to be careful when it comes to choosing our friends. I'll post some topics later this week.

P/S:
If you are from INTI International University College, this week is Christian Awareness Week (CAW). The following are the details:

Date: 2nd - 5th March 2009
Time: 10am - 4pm
Venue: SAO Concourse

4th March 2009
Questions and Answers Session
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: SAO Concourse

5th March 2009
Movie Screening
Time: 8pm
Venue: Dining hall car park

Come and join us at SAO Concourse! Hope to see you there.

Cannibals in space?

2009-02-21T22:53:00.014+08:00

Do you know that galaxies interact with each other in space? First of all, do you know that galaxies can move? Our galaxy is also moving even as we speak. What is the big deal if they can move? Well, being able to move, galaxies may interact with each other.

The interaction that I'm talking about is galactic cannibalism. What is it actually? Similar to it's counter part on Earth, galaxies may 'eat' up other galaxies. Sounds scary? Well, it is quite harmless in a sense. Unlike human cannibalism, galaxies that are 'eaten', will not be lost. It will actually merge with the galaxy that 'ate' it. Normally, the solar system in that galaxy will not be affected. But, in some cases, they may collide with other solar system and a major catastrophe will happen. This galactic cannibalism can also cause the galaxy to change its shape. For your information, our galaxy 'ate' another galaxy before. Fortunately, Milky Way is bigger than that galaxy. Thank God we are still here today!

The image above is an example of galactic cannibalism. Galactic cannibalism is a natural phenomena in the universe. So, there is nothing to worry about. It is a common thing in the universe. The good news is our universe is always expanding. Indirectly, the distance between galaxies are further apart. Galactic cannibalism frequently take place when our universe was first formed. Nowadays, galactic cannibalism rarely happen.

Star, planet or satellite?

2009-02-19T09:56:00.003+08:00

Is it a star, is it a planet or is it just a satellite. Yesterday, one of my friends asked me about what is the bright star in the night sky? Well, a lot of people tend to get the wrong impression when it comes to stars, planets or even satellites. So, whenever you see any bright and shining object in the sky, it must be either one of these objects.

First of all, it might be a star. How do you identify a star then? A star is an entity that emits lights. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. The reason why we can see the Sun with our naked eye is that it is quite near to Earth. It is approximately 149,600,000 km from the Earth. That is quite near in terms of light year. It takes at least 8 minutes for the sun light to reach Earth. Other stars however are further than that. The light that they emitted may take years to reach Earth. That's why you see stars blinking in the night sky.

Secondly, you can't really see a planet with the naked eye. You must at least use a telescope. The nearest planet that we can see as a dot in the night sky as I can recall is Mars. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Way back a few years ago, I joined a seminar regarding science and arts in Langkawi. A friend who is an astronomer showed me Mars with his telescope and I can see Mars as a white dot in the sky. You can't actually see any planet as a dot unless they are quite near to Earth. This phenomena is quite rare.

Last but not least, the satellite. It is rather easy to identify a satellite. If you see a white dot in the sky that is not blinking but rather bright, that is a satellite. This is because satellites are placed in orbits quite near to Earth. It is the brightest that you can see compared to stars and other entities.

I hope you guys will understand more of what we can really see in our sky. And I also hope that you guys will be able to identify all these entities better the next time you see one. Do bear in mind that you can't always have a clear sky at night. This depends on whether there are any clouds and also on the amount of industry in that area.

Sources:
Wikipedia

Space Tourism...

2009-02-16T21:48:00.003+08:00

Have you ever heard of the term 'space tourism' before? For those of you that might be wandering what it is all about, it is actually going on a vacation in space! It sounds kind of cool isn't it? Imagine yourself floating at zero gravity while enjoying the beautiful cosmic landscape. Space tourism is not a common term in Malaysia, but in certain countries it is quite common.

This is not just a dream, but since a few years back, it has became a reality. In 2001, Dennis Tito became the world's first space tourist when he embarked on his journey to the ISS. He flew to space on board a Russian Soyuz rocket.

Can you guess how much he paid just to go to space? Believe it or not according to Wikipedia, the first three space tourist paid in excess of $20 million USD each for 10 days visit to the ISS. 20 million USD is approximately RM 72,353,813.01!!! Wow! That's a huge amount of money!

For your information, he is not the only space tourist. There are more people that went to space after him. The name list of space tourist are as follows:
1)Dennis Tito
2)Mark Shuttleworth
3)Greg Oslen
4)Anousheh Ansari
5)Charles Simonyi

Sources:
How Stuff Works
Wikipedia

Civilization in space?

2009-02-10T09:35:00.002+08:00

Have you ever wandered what would life be if mankind can spread it's civilization to other planets in the solar system? Well, that's the future. It may seem rather impossible now, but who knows in the future we may be able to live in other planets! Can you imagine the what would happen if we can reach to the end of the solar system?

First of all, we may find new resources in other planets. There are possibilities that other planets contains minerals that we can mine and use it. Maybe we can find metals which are stronger and more durable or new luxurious ore. We may not see it now, but as our space probes continue to explore new martian terrain, this can become a reality. Come to think of it if we use up the resources on other planets, do we still need to ravage other planet's resources to satisfy our needs? We have to learn to converse them because once they are gone, they are gone forever.

Next, as I mentioned earlier, we can also have space colonies. In the future, we can
established colonies to the far end of the solar system. This means we can either be living in a space station that is orbiting another planet or we can live in a colony which is formed on another planet. Quite interesting, don't you think? By this time, we may have an advanced life support system that can sustain us for decades. There is also a possibility that we can established metropolis out of these colonies. The possibilities are endless!

The third possibility is interaction. I know this may sound weird, but it is a possibility. Who knows? We might be able to find alien species living in other parts of the solar system. We can have diplomatic aggrements with them. We can even share technologies! Imagine interacting with someone who is not your species. Well, if we have bad relations with them, it might even lead us to galatic war. That is the worst case scenario of course. Let us hope that war will not frequently occur in space.

Last but not least, space travel. If we are able to reach other planets such as Mars, we should already have the proper technology for space travel. We might be able to travel in the speed of light. Imagine how long does it take us to reach Pluto? This will make space travel convenient. It took us 4 days to reach the moon. There might be some other technologies use for space travel that will allow us travel faster such as hyperspace jump. With all these technologies available to us, we can even explore to the four corners of the galaxy.

Well, that is what I think what will happen if we can reach the end of our solar system. What do you think think about it? Eventhough, this is just a dream, dreams can be make a reality if we work hard for it. I hope our scientist might come up with something that will allow us to travel in space.

Types of Galaxies

2009-02-05T14:53:00.012+08:00

There are thousands of galaxies spread around the universe. Living in a big universe which is always expanding(even as we speak), how do we differentiate these galaxies. If your answer is shape. You are correct. Astronomers have come up with categories for each galaxy. Galaxies are categorize according to their shape. We have altogether three main types of galaxies.

The first one is the Spiral galaxy. For your information, Miky Way is a spiral galaxy. Spiral galaxy as you know is shaped like a spiral. According to NASA, spiral galaxy is shaped like a disk with a bulge in the center. The spirla galaxy also rotates slowly. Milky Way makes a complete revolution in every 250 million years or so. New stars are constantly forming in the nebulae of spiral galaxies. They are also the most common galaxy that can be found scattered around the universe.

Examples of spiral galaxy:
1)Andromeda (Messier 31, M31, NGC 224)

2)NGC 1300

The second type is the Eleptical galaxy. Eleptical galaxy, like the name suggests, has an eleptical shape ranging from spherical to elongated. Similar to the spiral galaxy, the eleptical galaxy also rotates but at slower speed compared to spiral galaxy. The amount of gas and dust in the eleptical galaxy are also less compared to spiral galaxy. Furthermore, the rate of new stars forming are also lower in eleptical galaxy. MOst of the stars in eleptical galaxy are old stars.

Examples of eleptical galaxy:
1)M87

2)M86

The last type of galaxy is the irregular galaxy. Unlike spiral and eleptical galaxy, this galaxy does not have any regular shape. It is also the most rare kind of galaxy in the universe. Any galaxy which have been classfied as irregular galaxy simply does not posses any structure that is in accordance to the Hubble classification. More classifications of the galaxy may exist in the future.

Examples of irregular galaxy:
1)Sextans A

2)Magellanic Clouds

Sources:
Wikipedia
NASA
Delphes
University of Arizona

Partial Solar Eclipse

2009-01-27T23:18:00.004+08:00

On the first day of Chinese New Year, 26^th January 2009, there was an astronomical event that occurred. A solar eclipse occurred on that day. A solar eclipse is an astronomical event where the Sun is covered by the Moon.

Well, some may ask why wasn't that day completely dark. According to my friend, Dr. Chong, this is because the solar eclipse that happened is not a full one, but it is just partial. In order for the day to become really dark, the Sun must be 100% obstructed by the Moon. The Moon only obstructed about 82.6% of the Sun in yesterday's event. So, we can't really see the solar eclipse without any special negatives.

I hope you guys was able to witness the event yesterday. As for me, I missed it! Awww... Maybe I'll have better luck next time. For those of you who would like to find out more, you can visit the links below. It will actually bring you to the National Space Agency of Malaysia. You can find tons of information about solar eclipse there. Furthermore, they also provide some tips on how to view solar eclipse safely. Enjoy!!!

Sources:
Partial Solar Eclipse 2009
Technical info

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-24T23:40:00.003+08:00

I finally got back to my home town! I can't wait for any excitements that awaits me here. I hope this year will be a better one compared to last year's. It's going to be a long week ahead of me. But, that doesn't mean that I don't have time for my blog. I will try to find some time to update my blog. So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone, a very Happy Chinese New Year or Gong Xi Fa Cai! To those who celebrate Chinese New Year, I hope that you guys will have a prosperous Chinese New Year ahead of you! Till then, this is Benedict, signing out.

Postcard to space!!!

2009-01-19T23:27:00.002+08:00

I just discovered this function when I was simply browsing the net for some space related article. Do you guys know that you can actually send post cards to outer space? Well, not a real post card like we send to our friends of course! But, you can send an electronic post card to the crews of ISS. Just point your browser to this site. So, try it out right away! Remember, you can really make their day by sending your greetings from Earth. I will also be very excited if I get a post card from Earth if I'm up there too! I wonder what it feels like to be working in space? It must be kind of fun!

Sources:
Send a message to the space station

Our universe in a glimpse

2009-01-13T23:20:00.072+08:00

For your information, we can classify our universe into sevral components. You can see the picture above to get a clearer information. So, we will start from the basics.

The collection of the nine planets as a group including Earth, is considered as a solar system. Our solar system currently have 9 planets. But I believe it is still possible to find more planets in our solar system. Not to mention, our probes haven't reach Pluto yet. So, there are possiblities that there are other planets after Pluto.

Then, a collection of solar system made up a galaxy. Our galaxy is known as the Milky Way. I hope you guys don't get confused so far. A lot of people (including myself) always have the galaxy and solar system concept mixed up. Well, to make it easier to understand we can say that a galaxy is combinations of solar systems and a solar system is a combination of planets.

The third component is the group. The name of our group is the Local Group. It is made of a group of galaxies including Milky Way. You might be wondering how these galaxies can form this local group? Well, the answer is gravity. Imagine there is a strong gravitational pull which is stronger than those found in the centre of the galaxy. This gravitational pull will then attract nearby galaxies to form the local group.

Then, when these groups are combined together, we called them supercluster. The name where of the supercluster where Milky Way is located is known as Local Supercluster. Superclusters are not the largest components in the universe. They are actually a sub component to super clusters complexes. The existence of these superclusters tells us that galaxies in the universe are not uniformly distributed.

Sources:
Planet
Solar System
Galaxy
Local Group
Supercluster

Introduction

2009-01-12T21:34:00.005+08:00

Hi, my name is Benedict Khoo and welcome to my humble blog. To be honest, this is my first ever blog. But, I'll take it as a challenge anyway. First of all, I'm just an ordinary IT student who is currently currently studying in INTI International College in Malaysia. I'm currently enrolled in DICT course. That's basically a brief introduction about myself. I want to dedicate this blog mainly to the fields of astronomy and space exploration.

Some of you might be wandering why an IT student like myself, wants a blog about astronomy??? I can see why some of you might be thinking that way. Well, during my childhood, I always wanted to be an astronomer. To cut the story short, when I was 12 years old, my mom asked me what I really wanted to be. Well, I told her that I wanted to be an astronomer. Then she asked my opinion about IT. At that time I don't even know how to start a computer. So, without thinking too much, I gave a negative response. She replied by telling me that I'm able to do more with IT. So, after that I began to think about what I can really do with IT. Then, a year after that I decided to get serious with IT. Since that day, I'm also determined to build programs for astronomers when I grow up. Although I am of different field now, but I still consider astronomy as one of my field of interest.

I build this blog to encourage people out there, no matter young or old, who are interested in astronomy or space exploration to take this opportunity to learn more about this field of study. Astronomy may not bring benefit to your pocket, but it will surely bring benefit to the future of mankind. With astronomy, mankind can uncover more secrets of the universe. If you are a person who is interested in astronomy or space exploration, you are more than welcome to post in your comments. To those who want to learn more about thse fields, you are also welcome to join in the fun!