Monthly Archive for May, 2009

C02 Emission, Birth and Death Rate of Your Country

Published on May 28, 2009 in Earth. View Comments Tags: , .

co2 emission rate 300x175 C02 Emission, Birth and Death Rate of Your CountryScreenshot of BreathingEarth.net

I just stumbled across this interesting facts about the earth and I think it shall worth a read. BreathingEarth tells us about the CO2 emission, birth and death rate of human on Earth by country.

In Malaysia, every 55.6 seconds, a new life is born and every 4.1 minutes a person dies. 1000 tonnes of CO2 is emitted every 3 minutes.

I accidentally came across the facts of Spain. The birth rate and the death rate are exactly the same which is 1.3 minutes each.

The country that releases the most CO2 is United States of America which is every 1000 tonnes of CO2 per 5.3 seconds, second by China at 6.4 seconds. Wow… terrific… I think if we do not reduce carbon emission promptly, disasters are ahead of us soon.

Hubble Space Telescope Upgraded

Published on May 21, 2009 in Aerospace and Astronomical Instruments. View Comments Tags: , , , , .

hubble-space-telescope-from-atlantisHubble Space Telescope

Our beloved Hubble Space Telescope (HST) launched 19 years ago has now been upgraded by NASA space shuttle mission STS125. The Servicing Mission 4 is Hubble’s last repair mission, so the crew members of STS125 riding on space shuttle Atlantis are the astronauts who touched HST one last time. After the refurbishment of  HST, it is expected to work fine until 2014 and by then, it will be replaced by James Webb Space Telescope (only on infrared).

Hubble Space Telescope is now equipped with 2 new instruments, Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Its Advanced Camera for Survey down in 2007 and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph failed in 2004 are now back to online. HST is also reloaded with new batteries, six new gyroscopes, a refurbished fine guidance sensor, a new outer blanket layer and a soft capture and rendezvous system.

The WFC3 has higher resolution and wider field of view than Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). It will be used to study dark energy and dark matter, formation of individual star and discover extremely remote galaxy which helps us know more about the early universe. The COS is key to understand galaxy evolution, the formation of planets, the rise of the elements needed for life, and the “cosmic web” of gas between galaxies as spectrograph can reveal the elements by breaking lights into spectrum.

Direct-proof-of-dark-matter

Direct evidence of dark matter. Imaged by HST.

Hubble Space Telescope has long been delivering Earthlings amazing astronomical discoveries and stunning pictures. Now, its ability has been enhanced to a further step that it can do 10x better than before. The secrets of the dark matter and more exoplanets may soon be revealed. We shall anticipate more jaw-dropping discoveries by HST.

I am sure that the info above is not able to satisfied your hungers, read NASA SM4 Essentials. Don’t miss it!

By the way, I am curious about the privacy that the only female astronaut, K. Megan McArthur has. What do you think?

Night 2: Kluang Mall

Published on May 13, 2009 in Public Outreach. View Comments Tags: , .

Table of contents for Kluang 100 Hours Star Party

  1. Kluang 100 Hours Star Party
  2. Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang
  3. Night 2: Kluang Mall

look through the xt8i 2 300x200 Night 2: Kluang Mall
A kid was looking at the Great Orion Nebula

Kluang Mall, 4 April 2009 – First, I would like to express my appreciation towards the Kluang Mall management as they were kind to provide us a space at the main entrance for free. They also arrange security guards to standby and make sure the vehicles never run into us.

The weather was mediocre when we setup the telescope on 7pm. Bright astronomical objects like Moon, Sirius and Canopus were visible but others were not without optical aid. It was getting worse as the time passed through. Moon was blocked by the shopping mall, Sirius and Canopus were partially blocked by the cloud and Great Orion Nebula was getting dimmer and dimmer.

look through meade binocular 300x200 Night 2: Kluang MallPapa, please put away your hand

There was a huge crowd but the weather did not cooperate. Many of them were dissapointed. Even though we had 514 people looked through the scope, we were not convinced that we did a great job. If there is any such situation in the future, I think we should cut the event or run the backup plan since our motivation is to let them enjoy the beauty of the night sky.

Well, let’s look at the pictures.

lots of kids 300x200 Night 2: Kluang MallLots of kids around.

look through the xt8i 3 200x300 Night 2: Kluang Mall“Do I look more pretty than the stars?” The girl asked.

guys behind the telescopes 300x200 Night 2: Kluang MallFrom right to left: Robin, Kang Dan, Shyh Tzer and bbo.

Last but not least, I am so grateful that these guys work with me on such meaningful events. Thank you all!

group photo 300x200 Night 2: Kluang MallMy dearest CHHS Astronomy Club members who attended the Kluang Mall Star Party

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Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang

Published on May 12, 2009 in Public Outreach. View Comments Tags: , .

Table of contents for Kluang 100 Hours Star Party

  1. Kluang 100 Hours Star Party
  2. Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang
  3. Night 2: Kluang Mall

sidewalk astronomy 2009 giant crowd 300x133 Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang

GIANT Hypermarket, 3 Apr 2009 – At 6.30pm, the weather was cool and cloudy due to the afternoon heavy downpour. With the astronomy enthusiasm burining in our hearts, we insisted on setting up the telescopes. Just after 20 minutes, the wanning-gibbous-moon light pierced through the cloud. A good sign, indeed.

sidewalk astronomy 2009 lx90 celestar 8 orion xt8 300x164 Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang
From left to right: Meade 8-inch-LX90, Celestron Celestar 8 and Orion Skyquest XT8i

The weather was getting better and better. The cloud was cleared and the transparency improved as well. Sirius was once again the brightest star on the sky. Thanks to the cooperating weather, we observed the Moon, Saturn, Great Orion Nebula (M42), The Seven Sisters aka Pleiades (M45) and plenty of star clusters such as the Jewel Box. Moon and Saturn were the most appreciated celestial bodies as they were bright and rich in features.

sidewalk astronomy 2009 celestron celestar 8 280x186 Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang
Shyh Tzer was showing a curiousity driven visitor where was my 8 inch telescope pointing at.

There were three 8 inch telescopes serving the public during the night. The 8 inch LX90 and the Orion XT8i were the most popular among the three. The reason that the Celestron Celestar 8 was not well accepted was due to its eyepiece orientation and the height of the telescope. As it was on a wedge, it was pretty hard for adult to look through it. However, it was unexpectedly suitable for little kids.

We had roughly 400 visitors for the night. This sounds great to us as the figure even surpasses the last year number. Though I have to admit that there may have duplications among the numbers.

In conclusion, this was a great warm up. :)

*Chinese version will be published after all the reports are done. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

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World Fastest Industrial Robotic Arm

Published on May 8, 2009 in Astro Video. View Comments Tags: , .


The ABB FlexPicker Robot arm can accelerate at 10Gs which allows it to reach 280mph from zero in one second. Isn’t this very terrific? Not only that the arm is fast enough, the precision of the system is also jaw-dropping. Watch the video and you will know how cool this robotic arm is.

Astronomically, I do not think that ground based observatories need such high speed system as the dominant factor lies in the imaging duration. However, space based observatories which are excelled at the gamma rays burst observing can benefit from such speed as the gamma rays burst usually do not last long. With such high speed system, more time can be spent on imaging rather than navigating.

Why is Astronomy important? Spoke the UK Minister of Science

Published on May 2, 2009 in Astro Video, Astronomy and IYA2009. View Comments Tags: , .

The UK Minister for Science, Lord Drayson, gave an opening address at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science meeting held last week at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. The Minister spoke to Astronomy Now, an IYA2009 Media Partner, about why he thinks astronomy is important.

Source：IYA2009 Official Website