Possible Stargazing @ NParks

Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
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weixing
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Possible Stargazing @ NParks

Post by weixing »

Hi,
I recently received an email from a NPark officer and seem like NPark is keen to bring stargazing into their parks. IMHO, this is a good opportunity to make some parks stargazing friendly and may be organizing some stargazing session with NPark.

Below is the content of the email:
I'm in- the process of co-ordinating stargazing sessions in our parks.
We have a few locations to offer - Sengkang, Lower Seletar and Bedok Reservoir parks at the moment.
If this works out, we hope to extend it to Bishan Park when it officially opens.

I hope to work out the details and dates with you. As I'm new to star-gazing, I need you to provide some suggestions that will facilitate your activity in our parkland.
We are very keen to work with you to bring in star-gazing into our parks and hope that we can provide you a suitable venue for this pastime.

Hope to hear from you.


Any suggestion??

Thanks and have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
:mrgreen: "The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." :mrgreen:
gchew
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Re: Possible Stargazing @ NParks

Post by gchew »

This sounds interesting! I live in Sengkang and I'm wondering where they're planning to hold these sessions. There are lots of bare fields around here but also lots of flats and lighting around. Are they looking for volunteers to conduct these sessions? I wonder how much more they can do to make parks more stargazing-friendly...maybe planting more trees to block light?
weixing wrote:Hi,
I recently received an email from a NPark officer and seem like NPark is keen to bring stargazing into their parks. IMHO, this is a good opportunity to make some parks stargazing friendly and may be organizing some stargazing session with NPark.

Below is the content of the email:
I'm in- the process of co-ordinating stargazing sessions in our parks.
We have a few locations to offer - Sengkang, Lower Seletar and Bedok Reservoir parks at the moment.
If this works out, we hope to extend it to Bishan Park when it officially opens.

I hope to work out the details and dates with you. As I'm new to star-gazing, I need you to provide some suggestions that will facilitate your activity in our parkland.
We are very keen to work with you to bring in star-gazing into our parks and hope that we can provide you a suitable venue for this pastime.

Hope to hear from you.


Any suggestion??

Thanks and have a nice day.
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fizzy123
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Post by fizzy123 »

Hi Tampines CSN commander,

It must be exhilarating to receive such an email from NParks. Looks like astronomy is no longer a "cinderella" hobby; has more or less taken off in Singapore and had steadily taken roots into the heartlands. I think this initiative will be successful as Hong Kong had similar experiences too; where by some parks were designated as stargazing parks and special arrangements have been made for amateurs to make the park astro friendly.

From my experience at bedok reservoir, some locations can be designated as stargazing points.

1) The foot of bedok reservoir hill.

This is a hill about 20m tall with a rather long, gentle sloping gradient all the way to the ground level. I used to observe there before singastro era. The hill is tall enough to block the lights coming from Sheng shiong and HDB, while the front portion which is facing the reservoir itself; had only a few low power sodium lamp, sparsely located along the gravel track. The skies usable are more of the eastern, south-eastern and North-eastern. If Nparks is serious about turning this location into star-gazing spot, I suggest that the white lights on the hill itself can be change to low sodium lights and the foot of the hill can be further flatten to allow for a cemented layer to be layed on it.

2) The jetty jutting out into the resrvoir itself

This spot is a non fishing spot. Its orignal intent was to be used as a platform to allow concerts to be held, e.g. CNY, Hari Raya celebration. The platform is made of wood and there are benches located there too.This spot is not as ideal as the first as it is near water and the wooden platform may not be stable enough, light pollution is also more severe. But it is good as it is near a bus stop.

Suggestions:

1) Cast a layer of cement on the grass to provide a more firm footing for telescope tripods. Also to prevent Tripod legs from getting too wet

2) Setup stone benches for the users to sit on, so users do not need to bring ground sheet.

3) Erect 1-2 stone pillars, so that table-top scope users can use it as a field tripod. Children that purchase those cheapo toy telescope that comes with a short tripod can also make use of it to do some simple observation

4) Setup some astronomy related monuments to educate the public like a model of a sundial or perhaps a metal plaque with star-charts engraved on it.

These are some of my humble opinions with regards to the topic
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Airconvent
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Post by Airconvent »

That's good to hear Weixing.
Can you get them to register here so they can participate in the discussions and ask questions here too.
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

That's great news! Here's my suggestion. Why restrict it to 3 parks? We can station 2/3 Singastro members in as many parks as possible in one co-ordinated event and give maximum impact to the feasibility of stargazing@nparks.

We can use Nparks marketing power to promote this event. Win-win situation for both Astronomy and Nparks.

This will impress Nparks to the fact that they don't have to spend any money to build mounts and stuff initially. Just need to turn of the park lights or put a red filter over them at certain hours! Once the favourable media reports and Straits Times forum letters start pouring in, they will have no choice but to succumb to our demand for reducing light pollution and building astro-friendly structures in the parks. Haha. :) Then, it will be much easier for them to justify to their higher bosses to spend public funds on such projects.

The upcoming Jupiter Opposition and Persides Shower will be a good event to focus on.

I volunteer my services for Toa Payoh Park!
Last edited by Gary on Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
bharat
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Post by bharat »

Has anyone tried stargazing from Labrador Park and Mt Faber? They seem to be interesting sites for star gazing?
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timatworksg
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Post by timatworksg »

Hope that this is a start to something long term! NParks getting into gear for this is great news....just hope it is all the way and not something short lived! Either way it is a great start to bring SingAstro and astronomy into the open (pardon the pun) to the public!
I used to live next to the Reservoir in Bedok and that hill is a GREAT spot! Lots of Rc Glider flying in the afternoons and Sunday morns...nice place really! The Jetty is wonderful too! Now with the carpark and toilets plus the place is more convenient for public it makes it a great place to hang out!

I would suggest that we here at Singastro perhaps form a team of volunteers to oversee this..small group of passionate ones who can keep in touch with the forums here and with Nparks! Then the active ones here support the cause and hopefull something good overall! I can see that Singastro has a nice group of people who can become teams to oversee several areas for the future of astronomy here in SG! Perhaps we should start a volunteer scheme and see who can come forward! Of course there are sacrifices but with good understanding and patience this is possible!
If this is so, A banner is a good thing to have. A good digi print of one or 2 can be printed and affixed at Npark Ob spots. Somthing catchy and recognizable...like Telescopes for Viewing..lol!

Now we need to find Kachang Putih Man, ice cream seller to station nearby for snacks!!...HAHA!!
My wife never complained about how much time, effort & money I spent on my Astronomy hobby!................suddenly I met her!!!
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neoterryjoe
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Post by neoterryjoe »

great news! :)

I thought a shelter is a must if you talk about stargazing with permanent infrastructure. Maybe these shelters can be fitted with both normal and red lightings to facilitate night sight.

Those astrophotographers will long for power points in the field. haha.

Next step will be domes with permanent pillar for dedicated personnel to man scopes for the public.. [smilie=angel.gif]
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Jin Peng
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Post by Jin Peng »

GREAT!

First step, please get them the change the lightings...
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Chris
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Post by Chris »

Quite hard to convince them leh. As you can see, astronomers are a very small minority group in Singapore... The government would prefer spending $ on table tennis coaches and the YOGs.

I do astrophotography myself, and would never do anything serious in sg. There are just too much light pollution, planes and clouds. As for powerpoints, I think you can propose that indirectly by requesting powerpoints for laptops, and not mounts.

As for lighting, ppl are going to star blaming the darkness if anyone got robbed.

I heard there is a dialogue session with a MP coming up on the 31st July regarding astronomy in Singapore... check out this website for more details: agastro.sg
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