Observation Session on 27 May @ Changi Safra

[Airconvent]

Well, as I mentioned , there were 2 groups last night.

David Lian, COO-J ( Chief Observation Officer, Jurong) was deployed in Tuas with his 2 daughters, Richard Low, Mooey and Chris Yeo. He reported sky not so good there although Robin Low did have fun finding the Wild Duck Cluster.

I was still undecided as to whether to go for obs when WeiXing, COO-T ( Chief Observation Officer, Tampines) called me excitedly and commented he was at the dark bicycle track next to Changi Safra and it was very clear!
I decided to try it and loaded up my gear and proceeded to the site and he was right! I could make out a thin outline of the milky shortly before the moon rose and could just make out Omega Centauri naked eye.
The trees, which was a source of irritation for observers was a blessing last night as it blocked the glare from the moon after 1.5 hours.

Equipment present was Jackie and his DIY 8" Dob, Weixing's 6" Skywatcher Newtonian, Daniel's 4.5" Newtonian (he didn't bring his LX90!) , Jeremy's 12x50 Minolta Activa on tripod and my ED80+C5.

Weixing was one happy dude last night as the images of M8, M20, M27, M57 and even a couple of galaxies appeared very nicely on his Canon 300D. Hope to see him upload the shots soon, so we can see it in full!

I tried the usual open clusters and DSO's with my ED80, M6, M7, M4, M22, M57 and NGC6231. As my red dot finder has gone bonkers, I had a hard time locating Omega Centauri on my C5. Now I realised either I get a good finder or I get a goto!

Looking at the finders present, I was quite impressed with the 7x50 Meade finder. Looks like I'll be hunting for one if it can be attached to my standard dovetail slot.

By 3 am, the moon was bright and everyone was tired, so we packed up and left but not before taking a good look at Mars through my Bino.
Was trying to find Uranus with Jeremy but seems he is more colour-responsive than me. He kept on talking about a "green" dot but all I see are white dots!! :-)

[jermng]

Yesterday was pretty good .. =) From binocular point of view alot of objects were spectacular!
Things like M6, M7,M8, M22, Scorpius Jewel Box(NGC6231) and Crux Jewel box looked amazing through the wider field. Even Omega Centauri had it's own kind of beauty through Binos. =)
After seeing the 8" dob and dan's LX90(previous ob session), I don't think the 127Mak arriving next week will be alone for long ... Drooling for an 8" Already!!!
Weixing's photos were hot! Waiting for them to be posted .. =)
Richard, my eyes more than 10 years younger leh .. HAHA .. but you could see Omega Centauri w/ naked eye, I couldn't ... =)

Jeremy

[David Lian]

Well, as I mentioned , there were 2 groups last night.

David Lian, COO-J ( Chief Observation Officer, Jurong) was deployed in Tuas with his 2 daughters, Robin Low, Mooey and Chris Yeo. He reported sky not so good there although Robin Low did have fun finding the Wild Duck Cluster.

The name Robin is actually Richard Low.
For Ob at Tuas,I will let Mooey report. (His report always full of details.)
I got many problem seeing those DSOs.
I am only the MT officer providing transport.
DL

[Airconvent]

oops...thanks David. Have corrected the report to refer to the other "richard".
:-)

[rlow]

Hi Richard the first,

thanks for the correction. hope to meet up with you one of these days.

Richard II

[Airconvent]

Hi Richard the first,

thanks for the correction. hope to meet up with you one of these days.

Richard II

okey dokey...:-)
hope to learn some star hopping from the master...

[rlow]

hope to learn some star hopping from the master...

hi richard I, surely you must be refering to someone else.... i am quite rusty now. this weekend go mersing i must try to refresh a bit. nevertheless, if there is any thing about star-hopping i can help, just let me know.

with warm regards
richard II