A brief summary of the equipment :
The Astrophotographers / Imagers
- Astrophysics 130 Starfire refractor on Paramount MX
- Borg 60 ED
- Skyrover 70 Apo refractor on Astrophysics Mach 1 GTO
- Hasselblad 350fl lens + Canon 650D
- Canon 760D + Vixen Polarie
- Unitec SWAT (single way axis tracker) 200 + Canon 6D
The Observers / Visuals
- Celestron 8 SCT on Nexstar mount
- Zingaro 6 Portable Newtonian on Astroslew Mk1 Alt Az (with improved saddle clamp thanks to Alvin)
- Borg 89ED on Half Hitch FTQ Alt Az
We saw a segment of a rainbow first appearing on the left side of the sky then on the right side. And many people rushed to take photos. After dinner, some bright stars slowly started appearing and the sky was off to a promising start!
Some notable objects we saw :
NGC 1365, part of the Fornax Galaxy Cluster (1380, 1381, 1399, 1379, 1404, 1389, 1386, 1387, 1365, 1379 ) lying on the border of Fornax and Eridanus.
This object was a bit of a challenge and it has eluded me since AUg trip , somehow the south sky was very good and i knew i had to give it a shot again that night. After starhopping from a
trapezium asterism made up of Upsilon 1, Upsilon 2, Upsilon 3 , Upsilon 4 Eridanae. I scanned the area with a low power eyepiece (24x magnification on my scope) and spotted 2 fuzzy round patches and to my eye there seem to be 1 or 2 more on the verge of being seen. Perhaps in future this is an interesting targets for Dobsonian owners. According to other online forums, a 12 inch dob can reveal up to as many as 6-8 galaxies in one FOV.
NGC 253, Silver Dollar Galaxy in Sculptor, near the South Galactic Pole.
This is an amazing target , even a small scope can show this bright galaxy as a thick vertical "brush stroke" amongst stars. A faint hint of a dust lane can be seen. Easy to locate, not as big as M31 in apparent size but still striking in appearance. Also in the refractor, ALvin pointed out the nearby Globular cluster NGC 288 in the same field. Its not very often one can find a chance alignment of a galaxy and a globular in one fov
NGC 247, Needle Eye Galaxy in Cetus
A fainter galaxy than the one mentioned above, the surface brightness is low but the ovalish outline of the galaxy can be traced out when one stares at it long enough. This galaxy is also interesting as it has a fairly bright star superimposed onto it at one tip of the oval. This gives it the "illusion" of a supernova occuring in this galaxy. averted vision recommended.
Other targets we saw on the first night include:
NGC 55 , NGC 246 (skull nebula), M1 Crab Nebula, M45 Pleiades, M41 , M46 and M47 (46 i cant see in Singapore from my window, tried countless times), M31, M33 Triangulum galaxy, the Famous Leo Triplet of Galaxies, M81 and 82 [Bode's Nebula (galaxy) plus companion], Hind's Crimson star (a very reddish carbon star) and Winter Albireo.
However for this trip we were also hoping to catch a glance of the solar system visitor : Comet Catalina C/2013 US10 . Unfortunately, the skies at pre dawn on both days were clouded over and drizzling hence it was missed.
Sporadic and/or possible Geminids meteor count : collectively about 10 on first night , 0 on second night due to bad weather
Here are some candid photos :
1) Setting off from Kranji!
2) Zingaro deployment
3) Sundog spotted!
4) partial rainbow on the first day
5) Remus chilling with his setup
6) Part of the Double Rainbow on second day (havent have time to combine the entire arch)
7) Light drawing with lightning on the far horizon
8) Group photo
Once again, many thanks to Remus for organising the trip and the long chats of astro-gear talk (and poisoning) on the 2nd night when it was raining, looking forward to the next trip to try catching the Comet again!
Regards
Junwei
