3D2N Stargazing at Punggai --> 7th - 9th Aug 2010

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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orly_andico
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Post by orly_andico »

hey guys,

resurrecting this thread.

still recovering from the past couple nights but it was great to finally meet some of the faces behind the nicks on this forum :-)

and I have (once again) learned that I should stick to software, and leave the hardware to the experts :D

hopefully the next still will be even more clear and less gear failures all around...
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Gary wrote:Please come join us! It will be a blast!
To all those who went for this trip, I just wanna say....."TOLD YOU SO !!!!!" Hahaha. :P

Watch out for the upcoming photos for this trip by the imagers who went. :)
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fizzy123
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Post by fizzy123 »

Selected photos of scenaries and Singastronians at the Punggai Expedition

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guangwei
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Post by guangwei »

@ fizzy123: why u never tell me there is a crab?!?! we can have seafood for dinner
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fizzy123
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Post by fizzy123 »

Wah xiao di, you so fierce. so small crab also don't want to makan it.
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fizzy123
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Post by fizzy123 »

Punggai Astronomy Expedition (070810-090810)

After being involved in astronomy for many years, I have only observed in the night skies of Singapore. No doubt there were many overseas sessions available for me to participate in the past few years, but due to NS and studies, I did not have the opportunity to take part. So this trip presents a wonderful chance to join the merry band-wagon of singastronians to Punggai for the unique astronomy experience.

We arrived at the woodlands custom and managed to cross both checkpoints without much difficulty. After a long 1.5hr drive, we managed to reach Chalet D’Punggai. The first impression of the chalet was that it was a little run-down, primitive Kampung. But once you enter the room, you would be thrilled by the niceties and the cosy furnishings of the resort. It comes with a TV, kitchen with a kettle & coffee and last but not least; bathroom with an extremely high tech shower facility. The room was air-conditioned but the air-con was weak in the day and the room gets mosquito infested by night fall.

After a brisk meal at 1900h, we headed off to the car park area to start the night observations. The skies were badly over-casted and the only object observable was Venus. By late night around 0100-0200h, the northern skies had fleeting moments of clearing up, and the brightest stars of summer triangle was visible with Cygnus area least clouded. I quickly grabbed my 7X50 bino and did a quick scan. Managed to bag Cr419 (NGC6910) and M29. Cr419 is slightly dimmer than M29, but the stars had a tighter association as compared to M29. After hanging around for a little longer, like most of the others, I had decided to call it a day as there were no signs of clearing up of the skies.

The next morning, after being pester for one sleepless night by the mosquitoes, I was greeted by blue sky with cirrus clouds as I stepped out of the room. After a good meal of roti prata and nasi lemak, I headed back to the room to play cards with my friends. I also spent some time explaining astronomy related topics with my friends who are more or less totally alien to this field. The afternoon was spent walking and basking in the sun along the beaches. I lucky enough to sight the most unusual things at the beach; like a baby crab and a sea otter that popped its head out of the water near the shorelines. After a brisk dinner, we headed off to some serious observations. Crux and Centaurus was already setting by dusk, so as quick as possible, I took a quick peek at the Jewel Bo (NGC4755) and Omega Centauri (NGC5139). Then Sagittarius and Scorpius were the next target constellations of interest. After the not so impressive view of NGC5139, I was wondering what could be expected of M8 and M20 in Punggai sky, considering that there were many street lamps just 200m away. I did a quick scan at the region and was shocked by what I saw. Two long, bright nebulous streaks were spotted, one above the other. I did a little scan upwards and saw M21; moving to even higher positions, I saw this large membrane like structure that had many stars etched in it. Initially dismissing it as high altitude clouds, I was shocked by what I discovered after consulting the star maps. W-O-W, it is the Sagittarius star cloud (M24)!!! After awhile, I got the opportunity to play with Chris’s Nexstar 8, managed to bag M22, M28, M54, M69, M70, and M23. The same was done for Ophiuchus and Scutum, M62, M107 and M11. Based on personal impressions, the views of M22 and M28 were disappointing in the Nexstar as compared to Clifford’s 25x100 bino at ECP. But the Nexstar lived up to its reputations by providing excellent views of planetary nebulas such M57 and M27. Next stop was Scorpius. I was wondering what can be delivered under Punggai skies, considering most of the clusters already look impressive in Singapore. Butterfly cluster (M6), NGC6231 and M7 were rapidly snapped up in the binoculars. I suddenly remembered books claiming that M4 can be easily seen with binoculars in dark skies. So to test up this claim, I did a quick scan at Antares and was surprised that I could see a bright cotton ball in my 7x50!! But I was quick to figure out that it was due to the high degree of cloudlessness in the region as I failed to do so, after some thin cloud set in. I used the Nexstar8 to snap up M80 too.

As the night dwells on, the sky became extremely clear and my attention was focused on the northern skies. The double stars of Cygnus and Lyra were observed. M39 was also spotted in the N8. NGC7000, also commonly known as North America nebula was also scrutinized. After some tricky averted visions, I could make out the (Atlanta) and (Alaska). After a few hours, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus, Andromeda and Perseus were out. Due to my busy attempts at astrophotography, I did not observe much. M52 and M103 was observed in Cassiopeia and so were the famous double clusters NGC884 and NGC869, Mel20 of Perseus; all were easy binocular objects. Objects worthy of mention were M13, NGC6207 and M15 of Hercules and Pegasus respectively. I managed to take a look at them through Guangwei’s (Xiao Di) 80mm apochromat. They were bright and obvious. Looks like Xiao Di’s 80mm is not xiao (little) in Punggai skies after all. After another hour, Taurus and Orion were out. M45 was so large and bright, that when it first rose above the building, I thought that was a puff of smoke from s distant chimney!! M31 was also impressive, using Gary’s 127mm MAK, the galaxy was large and had a bright core, just like the way it looked like in Weixing’s Vixen R200S under Tampines skies. I managed to look at M42 and Cr70 before heading back to sleep. I also spot around 10-13 meteors throughout the night.

The overall experience was good and enriching. Thank you Chris for letting me use your Nexstar8 and Remus for organising this great trip.
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Nice report! May write mine after I kill the itch from those damn sandfly bites! :)
guangwei
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Post by guangwei »

Nicely done!
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Punggai Photos:

Clouds
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More Clouds
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Aargh! Too many clouds!!
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Life's a beach
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Target lock. Ready to send missile to nuke Chalet 2.
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Challlet? Challet? Chalet?
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Are we there yet?
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Spicy or original?
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cloud_cover
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Post by cloud_cover »

But at least the clouds cleared up at night. Coulda been worse: Could have been clear in the day then cloudy at night.....
Fizzy: Never guessed that was your 1st trip! Mine too, didn;t sleep the whole night!
DON'T PANIC
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