tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26076212335941225522011-10-10T05:20:14.200-03:00reevesAstronomy is a blog that focuses on Science and Tech, and in particular, Astronomy.reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.comBlogger861100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-7554466535293585212011-02-06T20:12:00.003-04:002011-03-03T22:05:10.953-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? The size of our universe, with its multitude of galaxies containing billions of stars, each with numerous planets orbiting around them, is mind-boggling. Although it's probably not infinite in size, its true size is currently unknown.  Many astronomers believe that life is out there, even if the odds are very low, due the sheer number of other worlds in our universe.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-71025599386632564292011-01-02T17:54:00.003-04:002011-03-03T20:11:02.939-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? The total lunar eclipse on Dec. 11, 2010 as seen from California. Last month, there was a very special lunar eclipse. It occurred on Dec. 21, the winter solstice. It is special because in the last 2000 years, only one other lunar eclipse has fallen on a winter solstice. Sadly, it took place in the middle of a very messy December and was clouded out. But, to be ready

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-33858151791788139642010-12-05T17:35:00.000-04:002011-03-03T17:53:34.459-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? One of the biggest questions in science is where did everything come from? It's not an easy question to answer and it may not even be fully answerable with current scientific knowledge. A timeline of the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to now. Click to enlarge. What we do know, is that the universe started with the Big Bang. The Big Bang was the rapid

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-85852644645068598032010-11-07T19:41:00.020-04:002010-12-28T20:12:36.459-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? When looking up at the night sky, the vastness of the universe can be completely mind-blowing. Over the centuries our view of the universe and the scale of the universe has changed dramatically. A comparison of the difference in sizes between planets and various stars. For millennia it was believed that the Sun, Moon, and five planets orbited the Earth. The stars

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-13013614103996462252010-10-02T19:51:00.011-03:002010-11-30T20:26:31.393-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? When looking up at night, one of the first questions that may come to mind is "Are we alone?" Since the ancient Greeks, people have asked that very same question. Although most astronomers today would say there is life on other worlds, there is no definite evidence pointing toward a simple yes or no. A typical image of an Unidentified Flying Object claimed to be an

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-71520584634884222692010-09-04T19:25:00.024-03:002010-12-28T19:46:41.850-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? As NASA's Kepler spacecraft continues to look for tell-tale clues of planets circling distant stars, reports of confirmed planet discoveries are slowly trickling in. Just in the last month, NASA announced that Kepler had discovered its first multiple planet system. Kepler finds planets by detecting a dip in brightness as the planet passes in front of its star. In

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-31148959644778987872010-08-08T18:00:00.021-03:002010-11-29T00:02:43.375-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? When we look up at night we see the stars and planets above, rotating hour by hour and night by night, just like clockwork. It's easy to appreciate the night sky's beauty, but sometimes we forget those who have helped figure out how the universe ticks. The most well known of those great thinkers is most likely Albert Einstein. Although best known for his equation, e =

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-32179058889711145202010-07-04T01:28:00.003-03:002010-09-04T02:35:47.511-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Although it may often seem that the Earth is completely unique in the Solar System, this is often not the case. There are many locations on Earth where the conditions are almost identical to other worlds in the Solar System. These locations are called Earth-based analogs. One of these locations can even be found in Canada. The Haughton-Mars base on Devon Island,

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-50791818287137594802010-06-06T00:17:00.000-03:002010-09-04T01:27:40.512-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up? In the news this past month, David Attenborough, a British biologist, claimed that the Earth is undergoing one of the fastest rates of extinction in our planet's entire history. Species around the world are dying off due to climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. These problems are largely human created problems, but they can be solved.  If there are so many urgent

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-7556047068945453712010-06-04T16:24:00.014-03:002010-06-04T18:19:20.754-03:00

SpaceX has just launched their first Falcon 9 rocket into orbit after having to scrub the first launch attempt, earlier in the day. The 55 meter (180 feet) tall Falcon 9 rocket reached orbit 10 minutes after lifting off at 2:45pm local time on June 4, 2010, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. In December 2008, NASA announced that it has selected SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft to

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-19595605486079598312010-05-28T20:06:00.003-03:002010-09-04T01:22:23.329-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Over the last two months we have explored the eight planets and even ventured through the asteroid belt. Moving beyond the planets, we come across dwarf-planet Pluto. Pluto and its three moons; Charon, Nix, and Hydra. Pluto used to seem like a very peculiar object because it is tiny and so far from the sun, beyond chilly Neptune's orbit. When discovered in 1930 by

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-87963674456923717522010-04-10T23:37:00.020-03:002010-04-10T23:47:05.168-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Last month we started a tour of the solar system with the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Let's continue that tour with the solar system's outer planets.Before we continue our tour, the asteroid belt, which lies between the inner and outer solar system, must be acknowledged. The asteroid belt is essentially a large zone filled with millions upon

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-50788378352486410902010-04-01T15:34:00.002-03:002010-04-01T15:36:29.167-03:00

A quick look at YouTube's new video watch page. Many changes have been made to the watch page to make it more simplistic and easier to use. The five star rating system being removed will likely be the most controversial change.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-11991433140991696042010-03-27T12:53:00.001-03:002010-03-27T12:53:28.183-03:00

A video of the "burning ship" of the Northumberland Strait which is actually not a burning ship at all, but is the crescent Moon setting below the horizon. Jupiter is also shown as captured on camera that same evening. All videos and images taken through my 10" SkyWatcher dobsonian telescope.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-52614002608484438562010-03-20T20:41:00.001-03:002010-03-20T20:41:07.287-03:00

A video I made showing how to swap out RAM and hard drives.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-20539661549708486062010-03-12T19:48:00.000-04:002010-03-12T19:48:15.214-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Over the next few years, NASA will be sending amazing new missions to the planets in the inner solar system. The four planets in the inner solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (in that order from the sun). A little further out from Mars is the asteroid belt, a zone containing thousands upon thousands of asteroids. Some of these missions to the inner solar

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-41598317820361752342010-02-13T20:47:00.006-04:002010-03-13T13:48:09.511-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? During the last few months, NASA's plan to get people back to the Moon has been under fire. It is said to be far behind and over budget. There are even rumours that the Obama administration is going to cancel the project altogether. Humankind returning to the Moon is well overdue, the last visit to the Moon was 38 years ago! There is a growing number of people among

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-36988765890096983502010-02-12T19:17:00.000-04:002010-02-12T19:17:34.673-04:00

This will, by far, be the largest optical telescope in the world. Capable of detecting Earth-sized planets around other stars, imaging Jupiter sized extrasolar planets, examining the early universe and so much more, this is the telescope of the future. Check out the video above and the link below for more information. There's a great writeup on UniverseToday.com here: http://

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-31405094792946335922010-02-09T10:57:00.010-04:002010-02-09T11:04:13.926-04:00

With the release of NASA 2011 budget and within it the plans to cancel Constellation, Obama made some decisions to make NASA operate differently. The new plan will allow NASA to focus on space exploration while encouraging the commercialization of space. Also, check out this interview of Phil Plait discussing NASA's new budget and why it needs to be pushed through Congress: http://

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-74676494710310482042010-02-06T13:16:00.000-04:002010-02-06T13:16:24.565-04:00

After much waiting and many rumours, it has finally been announced that in the 2011 budget Obama plans on cancelling the Constellation program. This program was designed to bring people back to the Moon but has been criticized for being way behind and lacking in innovation. The first test-flight of the Ares I is seen in the above photo. The Space Shuttle is to the left. Credit: NASA The new

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-47975388987667393192010-01-03T18:48:00.000-04:002010-01-03T18:48:16.153-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? As we enter 2010 we leave behind 2009, a very exciting year for many astronomy clubs and groups around the world. 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy, a year celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first recorded observations of the Moon and the sky with a telescope. It was declared by the United Nations and then the International Astronomical Union

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-80934439913080711192009-12-05T20:23:00.000-04:002009-12-22T18:31:02.911-04:00

I do a little bit of debating in the YouTube comment sections on videos about the creationism vs. evolution "debate." I'm not arguing whether or not there is a god. I'm saying that evolution has been proven beyond a doubt and is not just a "theory," it is a scientific theory. An idea in science is called a hypothesis. An explanation for a process that has been tested and shown to be true beyond

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-86187251495705074502009-12-05T19:40:00.000-04:002009-12-05T19:40:12.110-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Last month, the new Herschel space telescope "fingerprinted" the largest known star, VY Canis Majoris. VY Canis Majoris is so huge that if it was placed in the solar system, the surface of the star would be beyond Saturn's orbit! Spectral fingerprinting is what astronomers use to tell what something is made of. To do this, light is split up into its different colours,

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-7805933406428562352009-12-05T19:00:00.000-04:002009-12-05T19:00:54.042-04:00

If anything, the below video is humbling. We're not that much smarter than chimps, are we?

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-71782391100502701062009-11-29T00:05:00.001-04:002009-12-05T20:45:32.205-04:00

In this video I debunk some 2012 doomsday theories: Mayan Calendar, galactic alignment, crossing the galactic plane, Eris, and Nibiru.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-83346682747387445122009-11-15T00:10:00.001-04:002009-12-05T20:46:32.880-04:00

A great music video featuring Carl Sagan, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman, and Bill Nye.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-12680614952366030012009-11-10T16:26:00.001-04:002010-05-28T20:02:31.259-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Last month, on October 7, the much hyped LCROSS mission slammed into the Moon. Some reported that it would split the Moon in half and that NASA was going to blow up the Moon! In reality the spacecraft that crashed into the Moon at breakneck speeds was only the size of a SUV. NASA scientists are currently examining all of the data collected from the impact and are

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-48923112821883421472009-11-09T23:36:00.000-04:002009-11-10T00:14:16.512-04:00

To one of the greatest science popularizers of all time, Happy 75th. You left us too soon.A Song produced using "Auto-tuning" and recordings of Carl Sagan, called "A Glorious Dawn". This song is being produced (with help from Ann Druyan, his wife and long time collaborator) and is at about 1.6 million views within only two months of being uploaded to YouTube.Podcasts in memory of Carl Sagan (both

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-66217269366141310692009-11-05T17:55:00.000-04:002009-12-05T20:50:03.257-04:00

Here's some interesting/humorous science quotes that I've found around the Interwebs: "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet." -Stephen Hawking "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." -Carl Sagan "God made me an atheist.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-61995454589688637462009-10-20T21:19:00.000-03:002009-10-20T21:35:33.911-03:00

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-46040817548718514612009-10-08T20:39:00.001-03:002009-10-08T20:45:31.253-03:00

Obama talking about astronomy and science at the White House. He even looks through a telescope at a double-double star in the constellation Lyrae. It's great to see a president who understands how important science really is to society.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-34838648647327236972009-10-04T18:26:00.001-03:002009-10-04T18:27:44.258-03:00

Phil Plait talks about his latest book, "Death from the Skies" and some of the really cool ways that space could kill us.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-61377110128963194662009-10-04T18:01:00.000-03:002009-10-04T18:08:33.548-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Now that Summer has come to an end, the Athena Community Astronomy Club has wrapped up their weekly boardwalk viewings. Thanks to club members who made this possible and to everyone who dropped by to take a peek through one of the telescopes.Although the weather wasn't great throughout the Summer, it doesn't even compare to the weather on other planets. Let's continue

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-49602296483794205762009-09-15T20:49:00.000-03:002009-11-06T16:38:14.417-04:00

Space exploration is extremely important to the world. One of the main reasons why it is so important is because it fulfills human curiosity and increases our understanding of how the universe works. Space exploration has helped discover how the dinosaurs went extinct, how the moon formed, and how nuclear reactions work, just to name a few. A second major reason why space exploration is so

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-2499046298282917132009-09-04T18:07:00.000-03:002009-09-04T18:24:53.314-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?The summer has finally provided us with some needed sunshine and clear nights allowing the Athena Community Astronomy Club to get in some boardwalk viewings. We go out to show the public the skies every clear Wednesday evening starting at 9pm.During a recent viewing, August 26, the moon was starting to set in the western horizon. As it started sinking below the horizon

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-66459558658424947732009-08-15T17:32:00.000-03:002009-08-15T20:53:09.975-03:00

I've always known that NASA has been underfunded since the end of the Apollo program but that has been brought to extremes lately as NASA's budget has shrunk and inflation has reduced it further.Early in Obama's first term as United States' president, he set out a group of people to do a review of NASA and in particular, the Constellation program. The Constellation program was created in 2005 and

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-69161921116321148602009-08-03T20:08:00.000-03:002009-08-03T20:15:27.680-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?It was last month, on July 20, 40 years ago, that Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on another world.The Apollo program was the greatest burst of technological development since human civilization began, yet it took only five percent of the yearly federal budget to accomplish this great feat. NASA's current

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-54939267598084114152009-07-05T21:10:00.000-03:002009-07-05T21:35:30.735-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?NASA returned to the moon last month with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the first mission to the moon in almost 40 years. This robotic mission will orbit the moon, map it in great detail, image the Apollo landing sites, and look for pockets of water ice hidden in deep craters. It will also look for good landing sites for the manned moon missions that will take place

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-19890859799751241762009-06-14T17:28:00.000-03:002009-06-14T17:31:07.701-03:00

With the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States of America began. Each tried to do something new in space before the other. In the beginning the Soviets were well ahead. They even got the first person into space, but this didn’t deter the Americans.Before America put a single person into orbit they had created the Apollo program to send people

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-21054328089143676482009-06-12T19:55:00.001-03:002009-06-14T17:16:54.452-03:00

This video puts the size of the planets, stars, and the universe in perspective for anyone who believes that they live at the center of the universe.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-24495535823758703592009-06-08T20:51:00.000-03:002009-06-12T19:56:27.665-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Last month, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched, carrying Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk along with two other astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). This brings the ISS crew up to six for the first time ever. Another first was having a member from all five contributing space agencies in space at the same time. They are NASA (United States), the Canadian

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-57267718663505845522009-05-13T17:30:00.000-03:002009-05-13T17:39:18.242-03:00

Why, according to Carl Sagan, astrology is complete baloney.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-67909934231554539762009-05-09T22:03:00.000-03:002009-08-03T20:13:35.989-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Every amateur astronomer has been asked at some point, "Is it astronomy or astrology?" and "What's the difference between astronomy and astrology?"Astronomy is a science, it uses facts, evidence, and mathematics to come to conclusions about the universe around us. Astrology is the unfounded belief that the position of the planets relative to the stars in the sky affect

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-62983814424289345862009-04-11T20:44:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:37:16.954-03:00

Here's a great video defending atheists:

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-25662441599442666932009-04-06T17:42:00.000-03:002009-08-03T20:13:01.148-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?On Sunday, March 15, the space shuttle docked with the International Space Station. During the mission the astronauts installed a final set of solar panels to bring space station up to full power and allow for a crew of up to six people. The solar arrays now have a total collecting area of over one acre and an electrical production capacity of 100 kW, or about enough

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-76781232538308498722009-04-03T14:41:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:25:28.906-03:00

For 100 Hours of Astronomy, an event of the IYA2009, the Hubble Space Telescope took an image of a galaxy triplet (Arp 274).Read the news release on the HubbleSite NewsCenter.Click here to view available sizes of the above image.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-31633608710757959842009-03-08T21:11:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:26:19.950-03:00

As the end of winter approaches (hopefully!), the warmth of the sun will be well appreciated. To most people the sun looks like a simple, unchanging orb of light. But in reality, the sun is a wild, dangerous, and somewhat unpredictable broiling ball of hot gases. It is the gases blasted off the sun that cause the aurora borealis (northern lights).The sun's surface is constantly bubbling and is

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-44847253164422182322009-03-01T18:45:00.001-04:002009-05-09T22:38:27.459-03:00

Reading through a recent Discover Magazine post entitled, "1.5 Million Years Ago, Home Erectus Walked A Lot Like Us" I noticed a huge load of creationist comments. Here is one of them:"And come to think of it: If humans were around so many hundreds of thousands of years 1) How come the population was so low till 4,000 years ago? (if it wasn’t extremely low all that time, why have we not found

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-72538657820601689212009-03-01T15:45:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:25:03.461-03:00

President Barack Obama released his 2010 budget outline. The whole document is 140 pages long. Let's digitally flip to close to the end.... ah here we are! NASA's budget. And look! Budget increases!From the document:"Funding Highlights: • Provides $18.7 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Combined with the $1 billion provided to the agency in the American Recovery and

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-14760833470139800002009-02-13T01:35:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:41:12.656-03:00

Apple's computers are great, they're fast, stable, and efficient. BUT, the pricing is a bit high for the average consumer (including me!). Here's what I would like to see apple pricing be for their various computers:NAME: Apple's baseline price (most expensive model in brackets) / My recommended priceiMac 20": $1199 ($1499) / $999 ($1249)iMac 24": $1799 ($2199) / $1399 ($1799)Mac Pro:

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-57266164028548186742009-02-12T14:07:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:26:26.522-03:00

Astronomy CastAstronomy Cast is a great podcast featuring one topic each week and occasionally features a question show. Here's the description of the podcast from the Astronomy Cast website: "Astronomy Cast takes a fact based journey through the cosmos as it offers listeners weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Hosted by Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-70170073949657838302009-02-09T21:12:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:15:19.725-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?During the past month methane was found in Mars' atmosphere. This methane may have been created either by Martian organisms or more likely, natural chemical reactions occurring inside Mars. Methane breaks down very quickly in Mars' atmosphere, lasting only a few years before dissipating. This means that methane is continually being replenished. NASA is now working on

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-3753939619768277222009-02-09T20:50:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:25:03.462-03:00

Looks like NASA and the NSF are getting a little chunk of the stimulus package. Check out Phil Plait's blog for the full lay-down.NASA Science $300,000,000 Aeronautics $250,000,000 Shuttle Replacement $500,000,000 Cross-Agency Support (Construction) $250,000,000 Office of the Inspector General $2,000,000 Total = $1,302,000,000 National Science Foundation Research and

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-86409480883653449742009-02-03T21:42:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:41:12.657-03:00

I've only tried Windows 7 within Mac OS X using VMware Fusion 2.0. Works fair - very low performance but still functions somewhat smoothly whenever max settings are applied. Aero features did not work. Minesweeper crashes and system can't evaluate its own performance.Overall, I LOVE the FEEL of Windows 7 beta. It feels so much better than Vista did. Vista never caught on to me... it had no "

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-39297137372200687322009-01-19T13:44:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:17:28.382-03:00

A recent paper shows that methane was found in Mars' atmosphere. They also found that the amount of it varies with the seasons. This is a significant advance in the search for microbial life on Mars. Methane normally disappears from Mar's atmosphere over the course of only a few years.These findings show that something is replenishing methane in Mars' atmosphere. The process that is

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-2420541812496119302009-01-19T12:44:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:38:27.459-03:00

Comment from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.htmlOn Jan 16, 2009 3:14 PM Guest wrote:"nasa already knows about aliens in space that have been observing there missions for years , Go to youtube and type nasa ufos and research it for yourselves, There have already been a couple astronuts who have come out and talked about ufos they have seen while in space goorden cooper

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-89915315796040703062009-01-19T10:36:00.000-04:002009-02-28T21:14:15.542-04:00

My last article, about the International Year of Astronomy, marks one year of me writing for the Journal Pioneer. I've compiled a list of my first 12 columns from my first year of writing for the Journal.Here are the first twelve in chronological order:There are Sister Storms Brewing on Jupiter : Feb. 2008Life in the Universe : March 2008Galactic Collisions - Milky Way and Andromeda : April

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-4994005772821395442009-01-04T11:10:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:39:14.713-03:00

Welcome back to What's Up?New Year's day was a special one this year. As you counted down the last few seconds until 2009, hopefully you were aware that there was a leap second added at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This leap second was the 24th leap second was added since 1972 to make up for the Earth's slowing rotation. Without leap seconds our clocks

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-27290252042843852122009-01-04T10:47:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:18:00.906-03:00

Opportunity looking back on how far it's gone in its long 12km trek to Endeavor crater (not shown). If all goes well, Opportunity will probably make it to Endeavor in about a year or so.The Mars rovers Spirit celebrated its fifth year on Mars on Jan. 3/08. Opportunity landed a few weeks later. Although Opportunity has one seized up wheel and has to drive backwards while Spirit constantly

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-16944692465161662662008-12-31T18:44:00.001-04:002009-05-09T22:19:24.491-03:00

I've been reading into a lot of articles about human and Neanderthal evolution and I wouldn't doubt that Neanderthals could have been smarter than people since they apparently had more efficient tools, larger brains, and good hunting techniques.Above left: First reconstruction of what a neanderthal man would look like. Above right: An accurate reconstruction of what a young neanderthal girl

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-80048282060668099452008-12-31T12:45:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:41:12.657-03:00

Here's a few ideas that I came up with for the next generation of MacBooks / MacBooks Pros.Intel Quad Core ProcessorsSame case thickness with more room for key travel.Don't have keys touching screen when case is closedLarger Hardrivefaster hardrivesfaster GPUUSB 3.0 portsMore sensitive wi-fi receiverBetter batteries (9 cell instead of 6 cell for the regular MacBooks, 12 cell for the MacBook pros

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-2715025960736601192008-12-08T08:32:00.000-04:002009-02-28T21:14:15.544-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?During the last Athena Community Astronomy Club meeting one of our club members gave a presentation on light pollution. It's a very important issue and it must be brought to attention.Light pollution is the brightening of the sky caused by excessive light being emitted from streetlights and other (mostly) man-made lighting. This has been a growing problem ever since

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-83512079110205483072008-11-15T15:15:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:41:12.658-03:00

Unboxing:First Boot:Boot-up Video HD:

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-87883666992613839862008-11-13T20:44:00.000-04:002009-02-28T21:14:15.545-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Last month, the Hubble Space Telescope was scheduled to be serviced for the fourth time in its eighteen-year history. Just a few weeks before this mission was due to leave, one of Hubble's main computers failed. That computer controls the majority of communications with Earth. On October 16, engineers working with the telescope successfully rebooted the backup system

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-821709868210237552008-11-10T13:29:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:38:27.460-03:00

While reading through the news feed at the top of my Gmail account I found a story about consumers flocking to Psychics looking for help. It is interesting that at least Psychics will have some business to help them weather the economic downturn.The article is entitled, 'In Troubling Economic Times, Consumers Flock to Online Psychics.' You can read it here: http://www.wired.com/science/

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-15330371404719677142008-10-29T21:00:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:41:12.658-03:00

On October 14, 2008, the new line of MacBooks were released. With new manufacturing methods, upgraded components (check the specs at the bottom of this article), and the slimmest frame yet, the new MacBooks are true beauty (except they don't have FireWire ports). It has a beautiful glossy 13.3 inch LCD widescreen display. With support for millions of colors, a LCD back-light (uses 30% less

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-47009312451985690602008-10-13T14:12:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.547-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?The final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope is planned for Oct. 14. This mission will repair and/or replace Hubble's instruments and components to allow it to operate into the year 2014.Let's take a look at what the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is, what it does, and why it is so important to astronomy.The HST was first approved by NASA (National

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-44721204086625436782008-09-19T00:09:00.000-03:002008-09-18T20:09:34.028-03:00

The enormous 8 meter North Gemini telescope in Hawaii captured what appears to be the first image of a planet orbiting a sun-like star(the planet is circled in the image shown).According to spectra obtained from the image, the dim object is a planet and not a background star like it may seem at first glance.  The planet weighs in at a whopping 8 Jupiter masses and was 330 AU (Earth's distance

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-87689945388788403652008-09-12T19:48:00.000-03:002008-09-12T21:19:20.635-03:00

Recently, with temperatures around the Phoenix Mars Lander changing as Winter on Mars approaches, dust devils have started forming.  Scientists working on the Phoenix mission have noticed that they are steadily increasing in number.  They believe this is caused by the growing difference of day and night temperatures which are currently around -30C and -90C, respectively.  The following animated

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-77948242631153744622008-09-09T18:33:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.548-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Finishing up on a quick overview of stars, this month will be all about the stellar oddballs.You may remember white dwarfs from last month, but let's take a closer look into these weird stars.A white dwarf is the core of a star left over from when a star like our sun sheds off its outer layers and dies.  A white dwarf that weighs as much as our sun would be the size of

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-11508849498545142592008-08-20T16:37:00.000-03:002008-08-20T17:14:35.999-03:00

NASA's Kepler mission (shown in image at left) is offering the chance for anyone who wishes to send their name into space in a mini-DVD that will be attached to this spacecraft. Kepler will orbit the sun instead of the Earth so that it can constantly monitor the stars in a small patch of the sky about the size of a human hand held at arm's length.To send your name and an answer to the question

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-25743906173146549072008-08-18T16:55:00.000-03:002008-08-19T23:01:56.946-03:00

Over 63 Sols (martian days) the Martian weather has changed slightly. Here is a quick summary from data taken from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander for its days spent on Mars.The temperature increased by about 4°C with an average max temperature of -30°C and an average low of -79°C. The winds were southerly during the day and easterly at night. The average wind speed over the 63 Sols of wind

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-86276268414756129572008-08-14T16:56:00.000-03:002008-08-14T22:41:50.144-03:00

Looking at my cash in hand I'm thinking just a simple white MacBook (why does the black version have to cost an extra 100 bucks?!?) will be better choice than the MacBook Pro. I'll still be getting similar specs on it (smaller screen and one less USB port - sigh...). Thinking logically, I'm going to wait until apple updates their line of computers, which should be happening in a month or two.My

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-1994176119314684532008-08-06T16:55:00.000-03:002008-08-06T17:20:11.822-03:00

NASA's Phoenix lander found an unexpected "toxic" substance while analyzing icy soil samples taken near Mars' north pole. This announcement comes just after the announcement confirming water (in ice form) exists on Mars.The scientists working with the Phoenix mission made the two finds after analyzing the data from the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer which can heat samples up to 1800 degrees

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-68955753063382204832008-08-04T10:08:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.549-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Continuing from last month's topic of dwarf stars we'll look at the other end of the stellar spectrum, the giant stars.Sometime, around four or five billion years from now our sun will start to expand becoming larger and larger until it is about the size of Earth's orbit to become a red giant. There happens to be one problem for Earth here, the orbit of the Earth will be

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-84691963626974955942008-08-04T09:59:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.550-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Last month the Phoenix Mars Lander found water ice on Mars. This is the first time that any form of water has been observed directly on the surface of Mars up close. As of writing this the Lander has just found that the soil is not toxic in any way and that it is similar to soil that would be found in a garden (minus the organic substances). It also found the soil is

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-24185476349016222842008-06-12T17:56:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.553-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up? Summer solstice, the first official day of Summer, is approaching on June 21. That means the nights will be getting shorter, and warmer weather will be moving in to make the Summer constellations more enjoyable. June is my favorite month of the year for one main reason: it's the month when I got my first telescope a few years ago. It was a refractor, the same type as

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-13649074239666485182008-06-02T21:41:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:41:12.659-03:00

In a few months, I plan on buying a laptop computer. This computer will be for astrophotography, games, work, computer fiddling, programming, and casual internet surfing/emailing.I've put a good deal of research into this and I've came up with a great idea: A MacBook Pro (picture below) with a suite of operating systems.My laptop will run on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 2.4Ghz or

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-30438868057238279962008-05-27T17:03:00.000-03:002009-05-09T22:39:41.295-03:00

After many months traveling through the loneliness of space, the $400 million Phoenix lander has landed on Mars. It landed successfully around 8pm EST on May 25, 2008 after the seven minutes of terror coming down through the Martian atmosphere.Phoenix is in great condition with all instruments working. The digger had a little problem being deployed but should be fine for use. It is on an eight

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-35368979362174459302008-05-11T16:33:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.554-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?Now that Spring has finally arrived it will be easier to spend more time outside to take a peek at the sky and see what's up.Continuing on the theme of galaxies from last month, I'll be talking about the small, unnoticed galaxies; the Dwarf Galaxies. It may be very surprising to find that galaxies like ours containing billions of stars that appear in the majority

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-75930961332863655962008-04-13T11:12:00.000-03:002009-02-28T21:14:15.555-04:00

Welcome back to What's Up?It's been yet another cold month, but don't fret as the stars are still shining, nebulae glowing, with Saturn and Mars bright in the sky, and Jupiter rising in the early morning sky around 1:30am by the end of the month.This month we're going to venture far beyond the solar system, out into deep space to explore galactic collisions.Imagine a massive galaxy, containing

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-10925040791015383312008-03-03T00:29:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:40:02.953-03:00

Here's March's installment of "What's Up?"! Enjoy! Welcome back to What's Up? After bearing the frigid temperatures of February, hopefully you were able to catch a glimpse of the vivid lunar eclipse. There won't be another like it until 2010! This month I'll be talking about a very controversial subject: Life in the Universe. I'll try to keep most of the focus on the solar system.

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-82884658776931919542008-02-27T21:49:00.000-04:002009-05-09T22:26:31.522-03:00

What a beautiful lunar eclipse that was! The twentieth of February I was the last total lunar eclipse until 2010. Here's an image I took before the eclipse, featured below:Below is a short video made by combining the pictures I took throughout the eclipse. Enjoy!

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-46494860199809629242008-02-05T14:54:00.000-04:002008-12-10T11:37:23.051-04:00

Wow, that was some storm!!! Hear about it on the radio, TV, people mention it, me not expecting much more than a drizzle of rain. Wake up Monday morning, look out the window, I see this:That's alot of ice! Watch you head! imagine power lines with that much ice! No school.This poor little branch was one of the ones better off. Some had about an inch thick on them! The power lines in some

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-42949322084508754262008-02-04T16:21:00.000-04:002009-02-28T21:14:15.558-04:00

Here's my first article for my newspaper column. Front page:Enjoy!Welcome back to "What's Up?" You may notice a somewhat different writing style and a slightly different format. That's because Rosalind Cross has passed on the task of writing "What's Up?" to me, Andrew Reeves. So for each month, I'll now be responsible for bringing you an interesting astronomical topic as well as letting you

reevesAstronomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06562221151038268953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607621233594122552.post-1773021814300928342008-01-20T16:31:00.000-04:002009-02-28T21:14:15.559-04:00

Just recently, I've been accepted to write for Summerside's newspaper, the Journal Pioneer. I'll be writing one article monthly about what's going on in Astronomy in the current month and an interesting topic. I'll keep you posted! And post the articles to my blog a few days after publication.reevesAstronomy

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