Sidewalk Astronomy (Obs) on Sat 22nd May, at Marina Barrage

[rlow]

Take the lift to the rooftop, turn right, down the handicap ramp, walk left along the paved walkway to the first concrete block bench, you will see the scopes on the turfed area behind that bench.

[Clifford60]

Sky clearing up, southern sky has a big opening as of now.

[majestic]

I got home about midnight last night and dragged the scope outside for about 2 hours. It was a fantastic night - I started on Saturn, next the Moon - the craters were amazing, I thought they were great through my 15x70 binos but through the C8 the view was sharp and in my face!

Next up were various clusters and DSOs. I can't remember all of them - I was slewing all over the place - but some standouts were Jewel Box and (for me) a couple of surprises: False Comet (NGC 6231) and Southern Pleiades (IC 2602) - just beautiful!!!

I'll see how I feel in a couple of hours but probably won't make it tonight - just too tired and now have to get up early tomorrow. Skies are looking good again though - have a successful and enjoyable night all!

[10,000rpm]

Looking good. Looking good!

[dragoncai2008]

I was bit late arrived at EC park C4/D1 with my binor last night, this was my first time to meet SingAstro veterans and other members. really enjoyed the night obs with them. thank you so much guys.

wow, both the 8" orion f4.5 newtonian and takahashi newtonian-cassegrain telescopes gave very amazing and sharp views of moon and saturn that I could never expect to see the same from my celestron 120mm refractor. I am also jealous of their 2" brand eyepieces and goto mount!

i could just wish when my DIY 254mm 10" f5 newtonian is completed at the end of the year, I could have a great OTA as they do. hahaha....

[rlow]

Just reach MB. Sky is clear!

[Gary]

Just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who participated. I had fun exploring different astro equipment and getting to know fellow members. Finally get to see green laser in action with my own eyes. Haha.

There was an Indian national whom I assume did not understand English and was standing around us curious about what we were doing. I invited him to look at the Moon through one of the scope. He was amazed by what he saw. I guess Astronomy is like music and art - it transcends all language barriers.

This is my first trip to Marina Barage. It is a nice place with scenic views. Kudos to the architects who designed it. Looks like very Segway friendly too.

Manage to see Saturn again. Brought back fond memories of seeing it for the very first time a few years ago at Remus's place. Fans of Saturn MUST watch episode 2 of the recent BBC series, Wonders of the Solar System. The whole series is absolutely fabulous, especially in full HD 1080p quality on a big screen.

You can also watch the whole series on youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/user/AnonH5N1

[Clifford60]

Last night may not had a great sky for obs, but the crowd was great. Therefore, the objective of sidewalk astronomy had achieved. Thank you everyone for bring their equipments and entertain the general public.

Suggest that we have MB Sidewalk Astro on the Sat of every 1st quarter moon to entertain the general public and astro members "gathering". On the Sat of the 3rd quarter moon, we will have the event at ECP C4/D1 location.

For those who turned on both Fri and Sat will able to confirm that the 2 locations attract different kind of crowd, MB saw a lot of general public and this is the objective. On the other hand, at ECP were mainly those with astro's interest.

New moon weekend is not mentioned here as most of the gurus are out hunting the DSOs at much darker sky locations, anyone interested can always join them there and enjoy the fantastic view of the heaven above. Of course, anyone and everyone can also organize activities for this night in Sg for their own group.

[10,000rpm]

For me, there was a sense of satisfaction in seeing the public being amazed that they can see craters on the moon and Saturn's ring and moons. For many it was the first time they had peered through a telescope. And they would thank us for opening their eyes.

There were some though who were not very impressed. I think I need to get better quality eyepieces! Hahaha.

Coincidentally, there was a good array of different types of scopes including Vincent's 8" Meade SCT and Clifford's Grand Eye giant binos and Richard's Vixen's. Some were curious about having to look at the side of the tube as their idea of a telescope is of course the refractor of which there were none!

We could explain the various telescope designs first hand.

[Airconvent]

Thanks to everyone for being so enthusiastic. I popped by and because it was late, I did not bring my scope along but overall quite a few people there including some from a local photographic society. The >10inchers were prominently missing due to the inaccessibility of the obs site to heavy equipment. Overall it was pretty decent although the clouds came in after 10pm. I am pretty sure east coast event was better for looking for DSO as the sky on Friday was very clear (by Singapore standards).

Sarjeet, good scope but i would push up the magnification for Saturn a little more so that it looks bigger in the FOV. This is especially good for newbies.. like me.

Gary : You were so full of energy...reminds me when I was younger and first started this hobby!