Goingbigger: Space and Science

Lunar Eclipse and other evening sensations

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:26:14 GMT

Upon turning on the computer yesterday I seen on MSN.com there was going to be a lunar eclipse which would be visible from Washington. I got home and started working on a new project and awaited for the sun to set and the moon to make its rise into the eastern sky. But upon checking the sky after sunset there were many clouds looking to obscure the view. Fortunately the clouds blew out and it was a perfectly clear February night and the back yard gave us a perfect view.

I brought out the telescope and binoculars to get a closer look at the Moon's surface as Earth's shadow cascaded across it. My roommate and I were treated to an event that does not happen everyday and it was his first looking through a telescope and/or binoculars at the moon let alone a Lunar eclipse. We spent the evening talking about how fascinating space is and what other celestial bodies we can see; Saturn, Mars, the constellation Orion and so much more. It was a fun evening and cannot wait until there is enough money in the back for better optics and a new telescope stand.

Goingbigger's Tower of Power

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:33:27 GMT

It has been 8 long years since I got my very first desktop computer and as of yesterday I now have a top of the line gaming machine that can still be used for work (evil grin). On Monday Todd and I met up at Computer Sonics in Lynnwood with a budget of 1K Todd and the computer guru (aka kid) in the store set out to construct a PC that used every acrnoym in the Computers for Dummy's Handbook. So to make it simple is the fastest computer Todd has ever built and is what he has dubbed "The Tower of Power".

I have been needing a new computer for some time since my old Dell desktop was P III 800 which does not really suffice for the requirements of modern games. So the choice was to upgrade the processor to an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 with a Nivida gForce 512mb video card, 2 gigs of memory and 400 gig hard drive...Jack Pot!! It took Todd to install the motherboard, process, video card and wireless card into the new case in about 25 minutes while I observed impatiently and tried to enjoy football. After the hardware install it was time to install XP Pro (have not upgraded to Vista Ultimate yet) and Service Pack 2. Taking a whole 25 minutes, yea that is super fast, it was time to get the new game ready.

The current game of choice is Lord of the Rings Online which is Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMRPG), I usually God mode strategy games like Starcraft II. The graphics are intense and using my 50" plasma for the monitor is nothing short that a gamer's dream. Last night was the first full night of gaming on it and could have stayed up to the wee morning enjoy the graphics.

In LOTRO it rains, thunders and lightings and the water, in ponds and pools, looks real. You can see through the glistening water to the bottom of the pool making the gaming experience a real treat. Gaming technology has advanced since my first machine and it is nice to be able to enjoy it without getting the Windows Blue Screen of Death.

Another item the PC excels in is running SETI@Home's Bionic research program. It used to take me at least 1 day to crunch a data unit now it is taking me 2 1/2 hours...Boyaoo...Goingbigger is going to find aliens. This will greatly increase the stats being put up by Just Jyll and myself for Goingbigger Exploration, Inc. I am letting the Tower of Power crunch data 24/7 right now to see what it total performance is, I am writing this at work, which should give me at least a 100 average credits per data unit.

Well I better get to work and quit think about the Tower of Power, P.S. Pictures will be up tonight. I broke my camera so that is why there have not been pictures of Hawks games and only a few from the Marlboro Hot Laps.

Lochness Monster (Nessie) On Video

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:29:17 GMT

Talking about Search for alien life to go round-the-clock - Space News - MSNBC.com

Mon, 28 May 2007 20:59:13 GMT

Great news for SETI participates and the SETI institue as well. SETI with help from Paul Allen is going to be bringing 42 radio dishes online to conduct a 24/7/365 sweep of the sky. Right now there isn't any 24/7 sweep so this with dramatically increase the probability of finding a singal from another planet.

I've been a part of the SETI program since 2002, my first internet group, using the SETI@HOME software to crunch data units. Now SETI is using a new software package BIONIC that allows for more than just SETI data units to be crunched. My team, Goingbigger Exploration, has 3 members so far and we are continually putting up new stats.

Jyll, the newest member, is climbing up fast and will probably pass me soon. My home computer is unreliable and likes to crash while running the program, probably because it is a 9 year old PIII 800. Chris is slowly getting som numbers up there but I know he is busy doing chores around the house to think about running his BIONIC software. At leas the team is growing and over a period of time we will get some serious statistics up there.

I am glad to see the SETI program get help to keep this dream and pursuit moving forward. It is pretty cool to be a part of something like this and when life is dicovered I can say that my computers helped out :)

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Search for alien life to go round-the-clock - Space News - MSNBC.com

Meteor Crater - Arizona

Thu, 17 May 2007 06:53:01 GMT

On Friday May 11, 2007 I got to go to Meteor Crater as part of my trip to Arizona, finally getting around to blogging about it. It was so cool since being into space and having a interest in what is going on in the galaxy. I've seen tv shows after tv show about meteors and always Meteor Crater is brought up because it is the largest and most well preserved crater on Earth.

Eduardo Donoso was our tour and what a treat it was. Being the head tour guide and long time expert of Meteor Crater, featured on the History Channel, I got a the fullest and most complete account of the crater's history and of the surrounding areas. That was a special treat for me and learnign more of th history surrounding the crater, land owners, mining claims and old museums gave me a great appreciatation for this individual crater.Through the tour I felt a a connection with the crater while contemplation my own thoughts what life is like in the universe.

Visiting Meteor Crater bring deaper meaning to the Friday 13 asteriod that will pass the Earth in 2029, which could impact Earth in later years. There is a flash video regarding the end of the world and it so funny yet has many truths in to, watch video.

If you have a chance to visit the crater I hihgly recommend it for more than just pictures but for the whole experience of how life is on Earth and through the solar system.

Science Channel

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 07:35:28 GMT

Tonight I am having a major geek night on the computer while watching the Science Channel similar to the night back in January when I watched the show on an Asteroid MN4. So far I have watched Search for Alien Planets, Revealing Mars and now On Jupiter and I will probably continue to watch as the evening continues on.

The Revealing Mars show reviewed previous missions to the red planet like the Mar's rovers Spirit and Opportunity and went on to discuss NASA's new project Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The MRO section was by far the coolest part of the show because it showed what we can expect from the mission. The MRO is the most advanced satellite that has ever been sent to another planet and it will pave the way for further missions. The MRO is equipped with so many sensors and high resolution camera that will map the surface in ways that have never happened yet and NASA can start planning new missions after analyzing the composition of the surface.

In On Jupiter, the Galileo Mission was rehashed and what made that mission so important to our knowledge of the gas giant, the study of the thunderstorms. Another mission was discussed, and to my dismay couldn't find the link for it, that is in the works. The space craft will have Ion engines, so there is no need for liquid fuel, which will enable the space craft to move around Jupiter and it moons throughout the mission. The craft will also come with it own nuclear reaction to supply all the energy to power the loads of gadgets to analyze the composition of the clouds. The craft will also take an inside look at Io, the most volcanic object in the solar system, and Europa, which might have liquid oceans under its thin crust.

These two missions will revolutionize the way we view our solar system and can't wait to see they unfold. Here is an image I found on one of NASA's and JPL's websites.

Goingbigger Exploration

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:51:51 GMT

My good buddy Mike Redwine just just joined my team Goingbigger Exploration in the SETI program. The team is up to 3 members and our goal is to become number 1 with how many data units we crunch. I have been a mmeber since 2002 (my oldest webpage, Goingbigger) It is awesome to have friends join the team and make it something great. The friends that have joined have spent time with me staring at the stars and sometimes weird things show up, I will post my experience later. Well it is getting late and I have to go to bed, more about the team will be posted later along with some new knowledge I have.

Friday April 13, 2029, Asteroid MN4

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:59:42 GMT

Last night I was watching a show on the History Channel about the different ways the world will end and it wasn't too surprising until I got to number four, asteroids. I have been a space junkie for sometime, the SETI program, and watching the night is fun and relaxing past time for me so the thoughts of an space object hitting the earth and causing havoc is no knew item.

It is thought, which I believe, that a asteroid killed off the dinosaurs when it slammed into the Yucatan Peninisula causing dust to block out the sun and freeze the planet. It is also not to far fetched to think that this type of event may happen again it might just be in our lifetime. During the show the date Friday April 13, 2029 was pointed out because of a NEO, near Earth object, will come so close to the Earth that is will actually pass in inside the planets communication satellites.

This asteroid named MN4 will come so close to the Earth that all of us are going to get a wake up call how fortunate we are to have made it this far with out being hammered by a big object. MN4 is roughly 320 meters wide and if it hit land it would destroy an area about the size of Texas and if it hit water the tsunamis would be larger than anything currently experienced. The destruction wouldn't be enough to stop life on Earth but it would make it hard on the ones that survived.

The dust clouds would spread around the world making it hard to grow crops and drop temperatures; good thing MN4 isn't going to hit the Earth on Friday April 13, 2029. Some people are saying though that when MN4 returns in 2035 is will impact but the experts are still saying it is to early to determine what the effects of Earth's gravity will have on trajectory on MN4.

It may hit us or it may not but the fact remains that these types of encounters happen on a regular basis. Our planet is regularly hit by asteroids that range from golf ball sized to sotmehing as big a Volkswagen even though they are not in the news regularly; you can bet the closer MN4 gets to us it will be making the news like crazy. To get an idea how much the Earth is hit by asteroids we just need to look at the moon to see the millions of craters that appear on its battered surface.

The most visible crater on Earth is in Arizona which was created by an asteroid that wasn't near the size of MN4. The power of asteriods just doesn't come from its size but from the speed it is traveling; as speed increases the amount of energy that is released upon impact goes up dramatically. Ever heard of a two-by-four going through walls in high winds? Same principal just the speeds are thousands (maybe millions) of miles an hour instead of hundreds or in laymen's terms, really darn fast.

I am pretty excited about this event and to be able to see the asteroid but it will look like a magnitude 3 star to the naked eye in the night sky and day light, it will only be moving really fast. MN4 won't hit Earth anytime soon so don't worry, yet.