“Dan sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan gugusan bintang-bintang (di langit) dan Kami telah menghiasi langit itu bagi orang-orang yang memandang(nya),” (Al-Hijr: 16)

Links for more info:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/mercury-venus-mars-and-jupiter-to-cluster-across-pre-sunrise-horizon/2011/05/10/AFhttahG_blog.html

• http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/2011/09may_morningplanets/

• http://www.falak-online.net/portalfalak/mei-2011-himpunan-planet-planet-terhebat-untuk-tahun-2011

• http://www3.falaksyari.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=252&Itemid=2

“Each image captured by the Hubble telescope is of an area of space equivalent to that covered by a grain of sand held at arm’s length. If the Earth were a grain of fine sand, the Sun would be 11 centimeters (4.3 in) in diameter and 11.5 meters (38 ft) distant; the closest to the Sun would be 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) away.”

ringkasnya, sekiranya bumi ini diibarat sebutir pasir dan matahari sebesar sejengkal (11cm), bintang terdekat dengan matahari iaitu Alpha Centauri pula diibarat masih terlalu jauh iaitu sejauh 3,000 km dalam analogi dunia pasir !!!.. (for reference: real distance = 4.37 light-years/ 41.5 trillion kilometres –> sand analogy distance = 3000km)… tapi itu baru satu bintang… tu yang paling dekat… tahukah anda, antara visible star yang terjauh seperti Carinae adalah dianggar sejauh 8,000 light year.. cuba kira tu berapa km (equal berjuta2 lemon).. heher.. lihatlah berapa besarnya alam semesta ini… tapi lagi besar lagi kekuasaan si-Pencipta… Wallahu A’lam.

kepada sesiapa yang tidak yakin, boleh kira sendiri berdasarkan pengiraan di bawah (warning: mungkin sedikit mengelirukan kepada yg tak minat metematik)… heher:

Diameter matahari = 1,392,000 km
Diameter bumi = 12,742 km
Bintang paling dekat dengan matahari (Alpha Centauri) = 41.5 trillion km

- relative diameter besar bumi dan matahari = 1,392,000km/12,742km = 109 kali lebih besar

kalau bumi, diibaratkan sebesar pasir berdiameter 1mm… matahari yang 109 kali lebih besar pula diibarat sebiji bola berdiameter 109mm (10.9cm).. jadi, mari kita uji perbezaan kadar jauh bintang terdekat mengikut formula berikut:

1- relative perbandingan analogi:

sun size (sand analogy) : sun real size
10.9cm : 1,392,000 km
0.000109 km : 1,392,000 km
1 km = (1,392,000/ 0.000109)

relative distance to Alpha Centauri in sand analogy = 41.5 trillion km / (1,392,000/ 0.000109) = 3249.64 km

2- atau dalam bentuk formula lain:

sun size in analogy/x = sun diameter / distance to Alpha Centauri

x = sun size in analogy * (distance to Alpha Centauri/sun diameter)

x = 109mm * (41.5 trillion km/ 1,392,000 km) = 3 249.6408 kilometer
x = distance to nearest star to sun (if earth size in sand analogy) = 3 249.6408 kilometer

Rujukan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun
It has a diameter of about 1,392,000 km, about 109 times that of Earth,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth
The average diameter of the reference spheroid is about 12,742 km.

http://www.phy.duke.edu/courses/055/syllabus/lecture2.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our Solar System. It lies about 4.37 light-years in distance, or about 41.5 trillion kilometres, 25.8 trillion miles or 277,600 AU.

http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/cosmic_collision/cosmic_collision.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
Eta Carinae (η Carinae or η Car) is a stellar system in the constellation Carina, about 7,500 to 8,000 light-years from the Sun.

How far away, in light years, is the furthest star visible from the earth?
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/980329a.html
In answer to your last question, since this estimate is only for the very brightest stars, and since the distance I obtained is still less than the size of the visible Universe (about 15 billion light years),

Macam tahun lepas, tahun ni sebelum nak isi income tax, nak kira balik buku yang aku beli dan baca… ikut pengiraan, aku dah beli dan baca at least 27 buku baru (tidak termasuk majalah) yang kurang sikit berbanding tahun lepas (lebih 40 buku)…  cuma tahun ni total buku memang kurang tapi total muka surat yang dibaca masih lebih kurang sama macam tahun lepas iaitu lebih 8,000 muka surat setahun.. (tapi kalau termasuk bacaan Quran dan terjemahan, jumlahnya akan menghampiri atau mungkin melebihi 10,000 muka surat sebab masa puasa tahun lepas sahaja,  syukur alhamdulillah sudah berjaya katam Al-Quran & Terjemahan).. bila tengok list buku tahun lepas, kebanyakkan buku berunsur keagamaan, sedikit buku motivasi, biografi, politik dan lain-lain genre. Selain tu, bermula tahun lepas juga aku beli buku Cerpen sastera A.Samad Said untuk merasai kepelbagaian pemikiran insan seni melihat dunia. Walaupun genre buku dibaca masih terbatas, kepelbagaian bidang bacaan tahun lepas masih besar sekiranya mengambil kira bahan bacaan majalah yang dibeli/dibaca… dan yang tidak kurang penting, bacaan dari Internet yang akupun kurang pasti macamner nak sukat… heher…

Buku paling tebal mungkin Terjemahan Sahih Bukhari (lebih 1000 m/s) berbanding tahun lepas lebih  800 m/s melalui buku Kisah Para Nabi karangan ibnu Katsir… tupun sebenarnya terjemahan hadis itu bukan dibaca secara deap reading yang rasanya masih perlu sentiasa diulang baca sebagai rujukan sepanjang masa (seperti bacaan Al-Quran); disamping yg pasti memerlukan seorang guru untuk mendapatkan tafsiran yang tepat dan lebih jelas untuk menghuraikannya… anyway,  berikut disenarai buku yg dibeli/dibaca tahun lepas:

• Fadilat Ayat Al-Kursi Untuk Mengatasi Sihir, 9789839750041 / 9839750046,  231 m/s
• Benarkah Iskandar Bukan Zulqarnain, 9789833604074,  200 m/s
• Makkah al-Mukarramah Kelebihan & Sejarah, 9789675102073 / 9675102071, m/s 222
• Menyingkap Mukjizat Surah Al-Waqiah, 9789833372324, 113 m/s
• Fadhilat & Hikmah 40 Surah Pilihan, 9789833011155, 371 m/s
• Insaf! Perjalanan Kami Mencari Tuhan – Produksi Mastika, 9789675780011, 208 m/s
• Revolusi Mental, 9789676113412, 401 m/s
• 20 Tokoh Jutawan 9789675373039, 156 m/s
• 20 Tokoh Ilmuan 9789834387419, 166 m/s
• Muqaddam & Juz ‘Amma, 9789834490201, 130 m/s
• Aku, Buku dan Cinta, 9789675274107, 282 m/s
• The Magic of Thinking Big, 9789673690114, 359 m/s
• Dunia Sama Rata/ The World is Flat, 9789830685328, 505 m/s
• 50 Tokoh Abad ke, 20 9789834387495, 160 m/s
• 50 Tokoh Berpengaruh, 9789834387402, 160 m/s
• Dasyatnya Tipu Muslihat Iblis, 9789675115943, 457 m/s
• Siapa Ahli Sunnah Wal-Jamaah? 9789830996653, 320 m/s
• Keajaiban & Keunikan Alam Jin, 9789830994659, 343 m/s
• Kisah Cinta Dalam Al-Quran, 9789675249006, 241 m/s
• Ilham Di Tepi Tasik, 9789833922109, 166 m/s
• Cinta Fansuri, 9789834119683, 158 m/s
• Applying Sun Tzu’s Art of War in Winning, 9789679788105, 91 m/s
• Applying Sun Tzu’s Art of War in Marketing, 9789679788082, 121 m/s
• 101 Malaysian Anecdotes, 9789832334972, 220 m/s
• Dk Handbooks:Stars And Planets, 9781405357968, 224 m/s
• Dilema Melayu, 9789673035281, 216 m/s
• Misteri Makhluk Bersayap, 9789799109514 / 9799109515, 343 m/s
• Al-Quran dan Terjemahannya, 1132 m/s
• Bacaan quran (daily 4 m/s sehari, at least separuh tahun) 730
• Asbabun Nuzul (Purchased 2009), 9838850764 / 9789838850766, 942 m/s
• Terjemahan Hadis Shahih Bukhari Jilid I, II, III, IV – 9789836100030, 1118 m/s

- Click the above target link and save the file at any location…
- To run, just double click the file “my solat.jar”
- Any suggestion/bug report/feature request/etc, please email: burujkoder@gmail.com or visit http://alburujkoder.blogspot.com

- To hide/unhide main windows, double click tray icon or right click tray icon and select/unselect “Show MySolatTime”
- Minimum requirement: Java Runtime Library (JRE/JVM) and internet connection (at least once during solat time fetching from e-solat JAKIM)

- Antara waktu solat paling piawai di Malaysia diambil secara terus dari website e-solat Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) (http://www.e-solat.gov.my)

- One of the most standardize solat time for Malaysia by using directly solat time from e-solat website by Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).

My Solat Time ver 1.0
Copyright (c) 2011 Al-Buruj Koder Foundation
http://alburujkoder.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer: Waktu solat diambil dari website e-solat Jabatan  Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) yang menjadi salah satu standard waktu solat di Malaysia. Walaubagaimanapun, penulis program tidak bertanggungjawab di atas sebarang ketidaktepatan data yang berlaku sama ada dari kesilapan koding atau lain-lain sebab sebagainya.

Disclaimer: Prayer time is taken from the website e-solat Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), which became one of standard prayer times in Malaysia. However, the author of this program is not responsible for any inaccuracies of the data, whether from coding errors or others problem.

Features:
- Standardize & accurate solat time; taken directly from website e-solat Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM)
- Simple interface with useful features (no cluttered information)
- No installation required, only one file (just need Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed)
- Location can be changed to most area in Malaysia
- Daily auto refresh solat time
- Tray icon feature
- Hide/unhide main windows
- Show next solat info
- Hide main windows to tray icon
- Azan reminder
- Java based application (tested on windows platform, supposedly cross platform on other os with JVM (but not tested yet)

Minimum requirement:
- Java Runtime Library (JRE/JVM)
- Internet connection (at least once during solat time fetching from e-solat JAKIM)

Source Code & Development:
- https://sourceforge.net/projects/mysolat/

Untuk rujukan, berikut disenaraikan antara sumber waktu solat di Malaysia:

• e-Solat JAKIM – daily updated solat time / waktu solat harian (web-based)
• waktusolat.net – daily updated solat time / waktu solat harian (web-based)
• Al-Azim – can generate yearly solat time based on location/ boleh hasilkan waktu solat selama setahun mengikut kawasan
• Islamic Finder - waktu solat (international) termasuk malaysia, free program solat reminder (Athan basic)
• MySolat 2011 – waktu solat application for mobile phone (Year 2011)
• My Malaysia Solat Time (PC/Mac) – refer above description – open source solat time for Windows and Mac (solat time taken from e-solat JAKIM)
• Standardize Malaysia Solat Time for iPhone - open source solat time for iphone

Two alternate Hubble Space Telescope views of the Carina Nebula, comparing visible (top) and infrared (bottom) astronomy -- Wikipedia

image yang dijangka diambil oleh telescope ini:

A simulation of JWST's performance. This shows a "typical" JWST image, based on the expected density of sources of different types, and the predicted JWST performance. It is a false-color image, since the JWST observes in the infrared. --Wikipedia

cerita asal: gizmodo, via NASA

For more info, click

http://gizmodo.com/5744321/how-far-into-the-past-can-our-telescopes-see

Every time we point a telescope at the sky we’re looking into the past. This chart shows how far we can go. Right now, Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field IR can see as far as 480 million years after the Big Bang.

The James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to see 200 million years after the Big Bang. In a cosmic scale, that’s almost like looking at the beginning of all this starstuff we call the Universe. I wonder if we will ever be able to get to the point of watching the Big Bang itself. If that can be watched, anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a planned infrared space observatory and is the scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The JWST or Webb Telescope’s main scientific goal is to observe the most distant objects in the universe beyond the reach of either ground-based instruments or the Hubble. The JWST is a project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States space agency, with international collaboration from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, including contributions from fifteen nations.

Current plans call for the telescope to be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in June 2014 (or mid 2015) on a five-year mission (10 year goal).

JWST is a true successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in that it will be able to see many more and much older stars.[11] Compare the two images of the Carina Nebula taken with the HST (left margin). Though both images are of the same astronomical object taken by HST, the top image was photographed utilizing the visible spectrum, whereas the bottom image was taken in the infrared, using the HST’s WFC3 upgrade. Notice how more stars can be counted almost anywhere in the bottom image (infrared spectrum) than in the same corresponding location of the top image (visible spectrum).

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. Webb’s instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.

Messier 87 (source: Wikipedia)

Messier 89 (source: Wikipedia)

Edwin Hubble's Classification (source: Wikipedia)

Rujukan:

why is our galaxy a disc and not a sphere?
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=418268

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_87

In the modified Hubble sequence galaxy morphological classification scheme of French astronomer Gérard de Vaucouleurs, Messier 87 is categorized as an E0p galaxy. The E0 designation is used for an elliptical galaxy that displays no flattening—that is, it appears spherical in profile. A ‘p’ suffix indicates a peculiar galaxy that does not fit cleanly into the classification scheme; in this case, the peculiarity is caused by the presence of a relativistic jet emerging from the core.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_89

Current observations indicate that M89 may be nearly perfectly spherical in shape. This would be unusual as all other known elliptic galaxies are relatively elongated ellipsoids. However, it is possible that the galaxy is oriented in such a way that it appears spherical to an observer on Earth but is in fact elliptical.

http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/teachers/guide/1929/guide/classifying_nebulae.html

It should be noted that the apparent shape of an elliptical galaxy in the sky is more dependent on our line-of-sight to that galaxy than any intrinsic properties of the galaxy itself. If a galaxy were intrinsically cigar shaped, and we viewed it edge-on, it would appear circular.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_morphological_classification

The Hubble sequence is a morphological classification scheme for galaxies invented by Edwin Hubble in 1936.[1] It is often known colloquially as the “Hubble tuning-fork” because of the shape in which it is traditionally represented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_galaxy

It has been theorized that an elliptical galaxy will result from a merger of the two spirals.
Every bright elliptical galaxy is believed to contain a supermassive black hole at its center.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy

Spiral galaxies are named for the (usually two-armed) spiral structures that extend from the center into the disk. The spiral arms are sites of ongoing star formation and are brighter than the surrounding disk because of the young, hot OB stars that inhabit them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_formation_and_evolution

The most massive galaxies in the sky are giant elliptical galaxies. Their stars are on orbits that are randomly oriented within the galaxy (i.e. they are not rotating like disk galaxies). They are composed of old stars and have little to no dust. All elliptical galaxies probed so far have supermassive black holes in their center, and the mass of these black holes is correlated with the mass of the elliptical galaxy. They are also correlated to a property called sigma which is the speed of the stars at the far edge of the elliptical galaxies. Elliptical galaxies do not have disks around them, although some bulges of disk galaxies look similar to elliptical galaxies. One is more likely to find elliptical galaxies in more crowded regions of the universe (such as galaxy clusters).

If it’s clear where you are on Monday night, bundle up, head outside and look up. One of the best meteor showers of the year will peak on Dec. 13.

berdasarkan calculator diberi, kat malaysia (lembah klang), boleh start tengok bermula lepas pukul 11 malam ni (isnin) sehingga pagi besok (selasa), kalau ikutkan sampai terbit matahari tapi sebab dah terang mungkin dah tak nampak… peak hour dalam pukul 4 hingga 6 pagi besok (selasa)…. so, lepas sembahyang subuh, boleh try tengok di langit… location adalah pada constellation Gemini (malam di bahagian NE dan bila pagi di NW) tapi tengok keseluruhan langit pun sudah memadai sebab selalunya meteroid shower ni bertebaran ke semua arah…

Tapak pendaratan Apollo 11 dari orbit bulan - Wikipedia

satu persoalan dulupun aku tertanya-tanya… agaknyaler bolehker kita tengok (zoom) peralatan-peralatan yang ditinggalkan di tapak pendaratan Apollo di bulan guna telescope…. JAWAPANNYA: stakat hari ni guna “normal telescope” yg ada kat bumi memang tak boleh (tapi in future tak tahuler) sebab lunar lander yang selebar 5 meter tu terlalu kecil untuk dilihat dari kedudukan 382,000 km dari bumi… even, hubble telescope pun tak boleh focus sedalamtu [1][2]… tapi hubble memang pernah ambil gambar bulan cuma takderler boleh zoom sampai boleh tengok lunar lander [3]

so, kenapa pulak bintang/planet yang jauh boleh pulak kita lihat dari bumi… jawapannyer, memangler boleh tengok sebab kita cuma focus keseluruhan planet sahaja dan perlu diingat kadangkala bintang yang berkali-kali ganda besar dari bumipun kelihatan seperti satu titik kecil dari bumi sebab jauh sangat… inikan untuk melihat detail zoom lagi…

[1] http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/answers.html

Can we see Apollo hardware on the Moon?
The short answer is “no”, but there are some pictures taken from spacecraft in orbit around the moon which show evidence for the Apollo hardware. Based in part on a posting to sci.astro by Alex Blackwell of the University of Hawaii, Jan 3, 2001. 

[2] http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_lander.html
This question comes up frequently. It’s clearly impossible for an optical telescope on the Earth to resolve any of the Apollo hardware on the Moon, since the best systems, using adaptive optics in the near-infrared, can resolve details of maybe 0.02 arcsec. A lunar
lander of width 5 meters, at a distance of 382,000 km, subtends an angle of 0.003 arcsec. The Hubble Space Telescope isn’t appreciably closer the Moon, and its best resolution is about 0.03 arcsec in the near-UV. Not good enough.

[3] http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/14/image/a/

so, mari kita kaji… berikut disertakan kedudukan kiblat Malaysia guna kompas berdasarkan website: http://www.qiblalocator.com

Perlis 291.00° N
Cyberjaya 292.52° N
Kuala Lumpur 292.53° N
Johor 292.84° N
Sabah 290.76° N
Sarawak 291.60° N

secara kasar kiblat di lembah klang dalam 292 degree

kalo ikut stellarium dalam post sebelum ni, position measat-3a adalah lebih kurang dalam 254 degree (raser mungkin ada plus/minus.. tapi ni secara kasarler)..

292- 254 = ada different 38 degree (ke kanan sikit)

so, kesimpulannya, memang secara kasar seperti dalam darurat bolehler guna Astro dish utk cari kiblat tetapi kena adjust sikit dalam 40 degree ke kanan (mungkin ada plus/minus lagi)… tapi bagi aku besar juga diff dia… heher… tapi macam aku kata tadi, kalo tersesat kat mana-mana/darurat, bolehler jadikan panduan asas sebelum dapat mencari kiblat yang lebih tepat…

disclaimer: position kiblat dan astro dish kat atas ni mungkin tak tepat… ianya sekadar panduan kasar semata-mata.

( anyway, dalam posting lama aku ada cerita cara cari arah kiblat tanpa kompass )

MEASAT-3A dalam program Stellarium

Cara utk tambah kedudukan satellite baru dalam program Stellarium ada ditulis pada wiki berikut [1]. Sebelum tu kena tahu yang kedudukan satellite measat adalah statik atau dikenali geostationary satellite [2] [3] dan list hampir kebanyakan geo satellite ni ada di website berikut [4].

ni sample setting utk add kesemua measat satellite (astro) dalam file satellites.json:

“AFRICASAT-1 (MEASAT-1)”:
{
“groups”: ["communications"],
“tle1″: “1 23765U 96002B 10285.82324024 .00000117 00000-0 10000-3 0 748″,
“tle2″: “2 23765 2.7848 73.2056 0000524 21.5769 268.8547 1.00271513 54007″,
“visible”: true
},
“MEASAT-2″:
{
“groups”: ["communications"],
“tle1″: “1 24653U 96063B 10285.90030669 .00000022 00000-0 10000-3 0 2253″,
“tle2″: “2 24653 2.7350 73.2011 0000355 160.3278 117.5955 1.00270200 51004″,
“visible”: true
},
“MEASAT-3″:
{
“groups”: ["communications"],
“tle1″: “1 29648U 06056A 10286.86585642 -.00000258 00000-0 10000-3 0 6680″,
“tle2″: “2 29648 0.0556 79.7916 0002976 94.3822 251.3583 1.00270743 14161″,
“visible”: true
},
“MEASAT-3A”:
{
“groups”: ["communications"],
“tle1″: “1 35362U 09032A 10286.86585618 -.00000258 00000-0 10000-3 0 2215″,
“tle2″: “2 35362 0.0339 322.5927 0002009 256.9623 205.9876 1.00271920 4834″,
“visible”: true
}

sebenaranya, kedudukan Measat-3 dan Measat-3A ini adalah berdekatan sehinggakan astro disc sekarang walaupun pada arah position yang sama masih boleh dapat signal dari kedua-dua satellite ini [5]. lagi satu, just for info, bardasarkan apa yang CTO Astro kata, setellite measat-3A digunakan untuk astro HD channel [6]

Reference: