Hi everyone
Just to let you know, pending the weather this weekend, some of us are planning for a half-night DSO observation this Sat. Half night is the first half, 8pm to midnight. (2nd half is world cup...hehe!)
DeepSky Half-Night Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Tanjung Sutera Resort, http://tanjungsutera.blogspot.sg
GPS coordinates: 1°55'53"N 104°7'32"E
Anyone who is keen to view deepsky objects, eg. spiral arms of galaxies and globular clusters resolved to the core etc, through my 15 inch dob with 100-degree Ethos, you are most welcome to join us there and enjoy the splendid views. You don't have to bring a scope to enjoy the DSOs through my dob, but kindly arrange your own transport. Rendezvous at the resort for dinner.
If sky is bad this Sat, no worries... we will do an overnight ob at Sedili on next Sat 28 Jun 2014.
DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Richard Low
Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
good to have you along...currently four to go if there is fine weather....
Richard Low
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Airconvent
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Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
How the skies over there now ? 
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before
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United Federation of the Planets
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United Federation of the Planets
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depardeuz
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Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Hi all,
I would not call this as some ob report. More like a tourist show and tell.
Thanks to rlow for taking the trouble and going the extra mile to bring me and clifford up to their usual playground at Sedili. Very much appreciated!
I packed my Zingaro 8", porta 2 and accessories into a shopping trolley almost like someone who had done shopping in Singapore and returning to Malaysia!
We had progressed rather slowly but at reasonably acceptable pace through Customs of both Singapore and Malaysian side. It was light traffic all the way to our destination! Passed by the town area and eventually rustic kampongs with durian trees dotting the landscape and subsequently through a bona fide oil palm plantation before reaching at our destination - The Tanjung Sutera Resort!
One cannot rush at this place. How could anyone do that anyway. The place gives you that laid back feel and the staff are pretty nice people. Except you cannot expect a Macdonald's kinda service speed for your meals! The wait is not exceptionally long but within acceptable limits. For those who prefer alcoholic drinks, well, it depends on what they have at that moment. Our friend kochu had to settle for a Tiger lager instead of his preferred stout. Btw, there is only one page of items on the menu. The other page covers the available drinks. Anyway, it is the company and astronomy that matters, right?
The staff could only speak limited English. So it would definitely be helpful to bring along someone who can converse in Malay. Or you might just be lucky to bump into the friendly owner, Mr Achmed (who is a Singaporean! *not sure if I got the spelling of his name correctly*)
See that weathered basaltic layers along the beach? Jeju had hexagonal ones..ok these are not so impressive but rocky beaches aren't that common too!
Left to right: Hong Lian (depardeuz), Richard (rlow), Clifford (clifford60)
Due to the proximity to the vegetation around the place, do expect flying insects/lizards/moths/mozzie (huge forest ones) to welcome you. But it is still bearable. You can even book a chalet on the spot if you fancy for about SGD70. And yes, there is a swimming pool! I heard that on a weekday, you may just be the only honourable guest in the whole resort... no bad eh?
Never alone...
We had a quick dinner of fried rice and chicken wings (yes, do order couple of that chicken wings! 2 wings for MYR $5) and started setting up our scopes at about 8pm. One could see quite many stars but no Milky Way. It was a night with high haze. According to Richard's standard, it was just a 6.5/10 condition. Milky Way only appeared faintly at about 10 plus pm before the whole sky turn hazy with burnt smell at about 11 plus pm.
One side of our deployment ground:
The other side is:
South China Sea!!...eh..this photo does not do justice to the South China Sea.
South China Sea! With Clifford trying to take a shot at it
Setting up:
Richard has no issues setting up his kit in the semi-darkness!!
Kochu had his office setup in the dark too!![[smilie=evil-smile.gif]](./images/smilies/evil-smile.gif "evil-smile")
For AP it is a must!
For the Zingaro 8", Again, lesson learnt at the dining hall is applicable at the deployment ground, one must not rush . Tightening screws and extra care to attach the primary mirror has to be done as careful as possible. The main metal spine was attached to the port2 first. Then, attached the primary mirror. With both hands supporting it, let the setup swing down towards the primary mirror side and then attach the secondary mirror cell. Do a final check of the balancing on the scope and you are ready to go.
The Zingaro 8", well, of course is no match against its 15" neighbour! We scanned the sky through the 15" dob with Richard's help. We saw Hamburger Galaxy, Sombero Galaxy, Whirlpool Galaxy. The 15" zambuto primary mirror resolved Omega Centauri's core into a burst of many little white sparkles while the Zingaro 8" could only muster a relatively clearer Omega Centauri (with reference to the SG skies) and few other globular clusters. Ok, we peeked at Saturn too. I know we shouldn't have but why not?. Had another round of fried chicken wings (with compliments from Clifford) in the dark with the mozzies orchestra in attendance!
Clifford had fun taking really good photos of the stars and a faint Milky Way with his PNS camera!
The sky decided all good things must come to an end and pulled the curtain on the really faint Milkway above us and we all decided to call it a night! Really an eye opener for a newbie like me!
I would not call this as some ob report. More like a tourist show and tell.
Thanks to rlow for taking the trouble and going the extra mile to bring me and clifford up to their usual playground at Sedili. Very much appreciated!
I packed my Zingaro 8", porta 2 and accessories into a shopping trolley almost like someone who had done shopping in Singapore and returning to Malaysia!
We had progressed rather slowly but at reasonably acceptable pace through Customs of both Singapore and Malaysian side. It was light traffic all the way to our destination! Passed by the town area and eventually rustic kampongs with durian trees dotting the landscape and subsequently through a bona fide oil palm plantation before reaching at our destination - The Tanjung Sutera Resort!
One cannot rush at this place. How could anyone do that anyway. The place gives you that laid back feel and the staff are pretty nice people. Except you cannot expect a Macdonald's kinda service speed for your meals! The wait is not exceptionally long but within acceptable limits. For those who prefer alcoholic drinks, well, it depends on what they have at that moment. Our friend kochu had to settle for a Tiger lager instead of his preferred stout. Btw, there is only one page of items on the menu. The other page covers the available drinks. Anyway, it is the company and astronomy that matters, right?
The staff could only speak limited English. So it would definitely be helpful to bring along someone who can converse in Malay. Or you might just be lucky to bump into the friendly owner, Mr Achmed (who is a Singaporean! *not sure if I got the spelling of his name correctly*) See that weathered basaltic layers along the beach? Jeju had hexagonal ones..ok these are not so impressive but rocky beaches aren't that common too!
Left to right: Hong Lian (depardeuz), Richard (rlow), Clifford (clifford60)
Due to the proximity to the vegetation around the place, do expect flying insects/lizards/moths/mozzie (huge forest ones) to welcome you. But it is still bearable. You can even book a chalet on the spot if you fancy for about SGD70. And yes, there is a swimming pool! I heard that on a weekday, you may just be the only honourable guest in the whole resort... no bad eh?
Never alone...
We had a quick dinner of fried rice and chicken wings (yes, do order couple of that chicken wings! 2 wings for MYR $5) and started setting up our scopes at about 8pm. One could see quite many stars but no Milky Way. It was a night with high haze. According to Richard's standard, it was just a 6.5/10 condition. Milky Way only appeared faintly at about 10 plus pm before the whole sky turn hazy with burnt smell at about 11 plus pm.
One side of our deployment ground:
The other side is:
South China Sea!!...eh..this photo does not do justice to the South China Sea.
South China Sea! With Clifford trying to take a shot at it
Setting up:
Richard has no issues setting up his kit in the semi-darkness!!
Kochu had his office setup in the dark too!
For AP it is a must!For the Zingaro 8", Again, lesson learnt at the dining hall is applicable at the deployment ground, one must not rush . Tightening screws and extra care to attach the primary mirror has to be done as careful as possible. The main metal spine was attached to the port2 first. Then, attached the primary mirror. With both hands supporting it, let the setup swing down towards the primary mirror side and then attach the secondary mirror cell. Do a final check of the balancing on the scope and you are ready to go.
The Zingaro 8", well, of course is no match against its 15" neighbour! We scanned the sky through the 15" dob with Richard's help. We saw Hamburger Galaxy, Sombero Galaxy, Whirlpool Galaxy. The 15" zambuto primary mirror resolved Omega Centauri's core into a burst of many little white sparkles while the Zingaro 8" could only muster a relatively clearer Omega Centauri (with reference to the SG skies) and few other globular clusters. Ok, we peeked at Saturn too. I know we shouldn't have but why not?
. Had another round of fried chicken wings (with compliments from Clifford) in the dark with the mozzies orchestra in attendance!Clifford had fun taking really good photos of the stars and a faint Milky Way with his PNS camera!
The sky decided all good things must come to an end and pulled the curtain on the really faint Milkway above us and we all decided to call it a night! Really an eye opener for a newbie like me!
Last edited by depardeuz on Sun Jul 06, 2014 1:30 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Seize the day!
Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Hi Honglian,
Really nice write up and pics...i enjoyed it! I hope Clifford post his photos too....
The Hamburger Galaxy, as we called it, is NGC 5128 or more commonly known as Centaurus A Galaxy, a strong x-ray source.
Other objects we observed last night include Mars, M65/M66/NGC3628(Leo Triplet Galaxies), Lagoon Nebula, Globular Clusters M4, M13, M22, NGC 6441.
Really nice write up and pics...i enjoyed it! I hope Clifford post his photos too....
The Hamburger Galaxy, as we called it, is NGC 5128 or more commonly known as Centaurus A Galaxy, a strong x-ray source.
Other objects we observed last night include Mars, M65/M66/NGC3628(Leo Triplet Galaxies), Lagoon Nebula, Globular Clusters M4, M13, M22, NGC 6441.
Richard Low
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kochu
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Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Nice write up.
While I was driving back at a lonely stretch before Kotatinggi rear tyre of my car burst. I was alone and time was about 0100 hrs. I pulled over under a light and as I was setting up the jack, a van stoped by and a gentleman helped me to change the tyre. He was an auto mechanic. When I offered him money he did not accept it. He said that he just helped me when he saw me at a lonely strech.
Quite often one reads about bad experiences on Malaysian roads, but in my case it was a pleasant one.
My sincere thanks and best wishes to the unknown gentleman.
Kochu
While I was driving back at a lonely stretch before Kotatinggi rear tyre of my car burst. I was alone and time was about 0100 hrs. I pulled over under a light and as I was setting up the jack, a van stoped by and a gentleman helped me to change the tyre. He was an auto mechanic. When I offered him money he did not accept it. He said that he just helped me when he saw me at a lonely strech.
Quite often one reads about bad experiences on Malaysian roads, but in my case it was a pleasant one.
My sincere thanks and best wishes to the unknown gentleman.
Kochu
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depardeuz
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:17 am
- Favourite scope: 60x 80mm Spotting Scope
- Location: Toa Payoh
Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Wow kochu,
You really had an interesting and eventful weekend and it all turned out well!
You really had an interesting and eventful weekend and it all turned out well!
Seize the day!
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Clifford60
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- Location: Central
Re: DeepSky Ob at Sedili on Sat 21 Jun 2014
Nice write out, great job HL.
Kochu, next time the car with only the driver must go in front, just in case.
Kochu, next time the car with only the driver must go in front, just in case.