Stargazing Events during Earth Hour 2013

[Gary]

Source: http://www.astro.sg/2013/03/earth-hour- ... vents.html

This coming Saturday, 23 March 2013, Singapore will be celebrating Earth Hour.

*WEATHER PERMITTING*, there will be free public stargazing at a few locations in Singapore. Please check with the individual organisation for the latest updates of their events.

Thanks to astronomy.sg for providing some of the info.

Here's the list:

(1) Woodlands Waterfront Park
- Organised by Woodlands Community Club.
- Stargazing from 7:00pm. Park lights to be switched off after 8:30pm!
- More info: http://www.woodlandsyec.org.sg/?p=2958

(2) Jurong Central Park
- Organised by The Astronomical Society of Singapore
- More info: http://www.tasos.org.sg

(3) Ngee Ann Polytechnic
- Organised by NP Astronomy Club
- More info: http://npastro.wordpress.com/2013/03/12 ... hour-2013/

(4) National University of Singapore University Town (NUS UTown)
- Organised by Raffles Institution Astronomy Club
- Location: http://utown.nus.edu.sg/about-universit ... own-green/
- More info: Contact XingYue 98915135

My friends and I will be conducting free stargazing sessions at Bishan - Ang Mo Kio Park from 7:30pm onwards. Location is just outside McDonald's at the park. As of now, there is no news of this park switching off its lights during the event.

Follow our twitter for the latest updates -
- http://www.twitter.com/astrosg
- http://www.twitter.com/BishanParkAstro

If you are organising a stargazing event this saturday and would like to be listed here, please feel free to send me an email at gary@astro.sg.

Just would like to highlight a few points especially to those who are new to Earth Hour celebrations in Singapore:

- The switching off at 8:30pm is NOT compulsory by any law. Only some participating organisations are supporting it. So do not expect the whole country to be in total darkness and be able to see the Milky Way stretching across the sky on Saturday.

- In addition to Jupiter, Moon and star clusters, do give Saturn a try tomorrow night! It rises at around 9:35pm from the horizon. The longer you can wait for it to rise higher, the better the view will be.

- For viewing of Planets, Moon and bright star clusters, you do not really need to go to a very dark location in Singapore. Thus, you may organise your own private Earth Hour stargazing sessions with family and friends in a relatively bright but more convenient place. Perhaps at someone's house and switch off all the lights for an hour (or longer) from 8:30pm.

Going to a darker outdoor location does have the advantage of lesser local light pollution which means lesser eye irritation of direct light shining at you or the telescopes. It can also enhance the of stargazing atmosphere and mood.

But visually, do not expect to see a lot of extra details for bright objects with the same astronomical equipment just because you are stargazing at a darker site in mainland Singapore. For example, you will not see an extra bigger Jupiter or surface details of its moon with the same amateur-size telescope.

So lets all pray for clear skies tomorrow and wishing all of you a wonderful Earth Hour stargazing session wherever you are!

[fizzy123]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the information on Earth Day 2013

[Gary]

@fizzy123 You are most welcomed.

[Mariner]

Hi Gary. You left out the .sg domain for TASOS' website so the link is not working properly.

[rcj]

no www also. correct url: tasos.org.sg

[Gary]

Thanks! Updated! Added the ".sg".

With most modern browsers, TASOS website can be reached with or without the "www".