RP's Ubin Trip Report 26/09/05

[MooEy]

Report from the recent ubin trip on the 26th of September. This is a trip organized by the astronomy club in Republic Polytechnic. 7 of us were present. Me, Jin Peng, Lynn(Alpine), Justin, Yew Lee, Cynthia and Raf.

We are supposed to meet up at 12.30pm. However by the time we moved the equipment from the school to redhill mrt station, it was already 2pm. Slowly took the train to tanah merah, then took bus 2 to change village.

Was 4pm when we reached change village. Had our lunch/dinner quickly, nasi lemak at changi village is so nice, and at $2 how can anyone resist? We then did some last minute shopping. We bought some cup noodles and then took the boat to ubin. Since there are only 7 of us and another ang moh tag along, the boat ride cost us $3 each.

Upon reaching ubin, we hunted for our driver, uncle moh. Jin Peng went to the police post to register our arrival and inform them of our stay. We loaded our stuff onto the minibus and proceed to purchase bottled water. After that the minivan drove us to the quarry.

By the time we reach the campsite, it was already close to 6pm. After getting off the minibus, there was a slight drizzle, and we quickly cover our equipment with the groundsheet and set up one tent to dump all the equipment. Seems like the rain ended after a while. Justin was busy lighting all the mosquito coils.

Since there was nothing much for us to do, we settle down and played Chinese chess. Not too hungry since we ate lunch/dinner at around 4pm. Jin Peng and Yew Lee proceed to collect firewood to start a fire. The fire was started by Jin Peng not long later.

Dinner was served after the fire was started. Justin was in charge of boiling the water to cook the noodles. We had our dinner in the dark.

It was roughly 9pm when we have finished our dinner, sat around the fire and roasted some marshmallow.

Skies were terrible, completely overcast. Earlier on I managed to spot Venus in the west, but there was nothing to be seen at this part. The rest of the guys decided to go for night walk. I stayed in the tent and guard the stuff.

Everyone was back at 12am, however the skies is still overcastted with nothing to see. I guess it’s a wasted trip. We sat around and continue playing chess. Some of them decided to take a nap.

At around 2am, I set up the r200ss and the sphinx, hoping to get some good skies later. After setting up, I could not even locate a single star to align, skies seems terrible.

On and off, I could locate a few stars here and there and had a glimpse of mars and the moon. Managed to take a peep at andromeda galaxy, however skies wasn’t that good, only the core was seen. No signs of the arms.

At around 4am, the skies finally gave us some hope. Some clouds cleared up around Taurus and Cassiopeia area. I managed to align with aldebaren. With mars and aldebaren aligned, I could start using the goto. M45 was up, the scope slew over. The views thru the finder was wonderful, many tiny little stars. The cluster is a little too big to fit into the r200ss. Later we went over to double cluster, another nice pair of clusters.

Earlier in the night, the clouds are mostly high altitude clouds. However at around 4am, they have mostly settle down and starting to clear up little by little. Most of our observation was done in hurry, since we could only utilize the same gaps between the clouds.

Our first peep at m42, orion nebulae wasn’t that impressive since it’s still a little clouded. As the clouds moved, I tried for m79. m79 is one of the few globular cluster in this season. Quite dim and small next to lepus. I could only make out a faint white spot in the middle of the fov. Not very impressive for the newer members.

I quickly got the scope to slew over to m41, an open cluster in canis major. After waiting for the entire night, our efforts finally paid off. M41 revealed many tiny little stars in the r200ss with the 20mm LV eyepiece, a very pleasing object. I slewed the scope downwards to ngc 2362, another tiny little open cluster in canis major. This cluster is much smaller than m41, however the cluster is just as pleasing, and many fine stars could be seen. Prolly 20 or so stars could be counted in this small little cluster.

Since the clouds are moving quickly, we lost our views of canis major. I slew the scope back to m42, since the skies are much clearer there. I took out my cheapo lpr filter and screw it into my pano 15. The neb was clearly much bigger than what we have seen previously, and the purplish hue of the nebulae could be viewed quite easily. I could see the stars of the trapezium, but they were not split due to the low magnification. After viewing the neb, I pulled off the filter and continue to use the pano 15.

With the clouds moving in, I had no choice but to move to another area that is clear. I notice an orange looking star west of aldebaren. Grab the controller and went for capella. Quickly got the star centered on and align. Then proceed to move on to m36. m36 is one of the 3 open cluster in auriga and is the easiest to locate of the trio. The cluster is another fine one.

The more I use the r200ss, the more impressed I get. With the 15mm pano, it gives a magnification of roughly 53x with a afov of 68 degrees. The field of view is very well corrected, with no astigmatism or coma visible; stars are simply pinpoint all the way out to the edge. No glares, no blackout. Eye relief is a little short on this eyepiece, however it’s still adequate. With an afov of 1.3 degrees, most open clusters would fit in nicely. I suspect the 13mm nag, 14mm radian and 14mm xl would do equally well. Perhaps I should consider getting something like a 19mm pano for the portaball.

The clouds continue to move, I looked up and wanted to slew the scope to another area, however the controller black out. Out of power? Can’t be, the battery is supposed to be fully charged. It seems that the connector is loose and the cable fell to the ground. I have the habit of not screwing the connector on, seems to come back at me. I lost all my 11 alignment points. I quickly plug back the connector and start all over again.

Got the scope aligned quickly and slew back to m41. Earlier in the night we did not have much chance to look at this cluster. This time round, the skies there was much better. I slowly moved my eye around to locate the red star in the middle. Found it. I got the rest of the members to hunt for the red star. This took quite a bit of time. Fortunately most of them managed to see the red star in the middle.

Went for m46 next, skies weren’t that good there and seems like the goto has not reach decent accuracy yet, too little alignment point. Could not make out where m47 is. Tried to locate the planetary neb inside m46 but somehow fail. Nevertheless, I showed the cluster to the rest of the guys. Clouds started to move in as the members take turns to look at the cluster. Proceed on to find m50 after that, another open cluster near procyon. One of my members mentioned that he could find it easily with the binos.

We moved towards m35, another very fine cluster. From my memories, the view of m35 at Uban thru my 3” toy scope was far better. It’s prolly due to the far darker skies and the lack of a moon. However, the views were still very pleasing. I wondered where ngc 2158 went. I guess it’s somehow washed out by the moonlight and the very thin layer of haze.

Went back to auriga to take revenge on the other 2 open cluster there. Took down m38, a slightly smaller and dimmer cluster in auriga, just next to m36. Despite being smaller and dimmer, it does not fail to amaze us. We tried m37 later, however due to lack of alignment points, the scope could not reliably center on m37. By the time I got it with my terrible star hopping skills, all was lost in the clouds.

Tried to take revenge on rosette neb aka ngc 2244, managed to slew the scope there and took a peep of the star cluster, no neb seen. The clouds is much faster than I expect and soon it devoured the entire cluster.

Saturn is up, I slew the scope over. While centering the object in the finder, I saw another object of desire. A large open cluster to the left of Saturn, inside the constellation cancer. The cluster proved to be a little too big for the 1.3 degrees fov. I got the members to peep thru the finder. Someone tried the binos and shouted “WOW”. We quickly took turns with the bino. We moved back to Saturn shorter after enjoying the beehive cluster. Saturn as usual showed it rings. A few of it’s moons could be spotted.

It’s almost 6am. Canis major is quite high up already. I decided to try for m93 in puppies. More open cluster I guess. Took a quick peep. Then proceed to ngc 1535. ngc 1535 is also known as Cleopatra's Eye, a small planetary nebulae in river eridanus. Thru the scope at low powers, it looks like a white dot. More like a defocused star than anything else. Most of them managed to spot it.

The skies started to brighten, and soon everything is washed out in the daylight. We started cooking noodles for breakfast. After breakfast we packed up the tents and wait for uncle moh to come back to fetch us.

[chrisyeo]

The cluster beside Saturn in Cancer is M44.... but you knew that already.. ;)

Thanks for the report Mooey! Hope the skies in Mersing are good this weekend..

Was your campsite beside the quarry?

Cheers,
Chris

[ALPiNe]

Wahahaha! I must say this is a really detailed report! Thanks a lot MooEy for the generous effort! Just to share my perspective of the Ubin trip, the initial part was really an eyesore. Skies were so terrible with 100% overcast that during that period, all of us were left dumbfounded not knowing what to do. In the end, we started bullshitting each other on the type of clouds there were at that time (Geography lesson?). Well, in general, most were medium to high altitude clouds back then.

At slightly past 4am, the sky finally showed some mercy. With clouds speeding by every now and then and given that it was already near dawn, time was of the essence. Fortunately, we had the R200ss that really saved our day. We were in such a hurry to search through the skies that I recalled while keying in for NGC 2362 in the Starbook, I quickly pressed the option “Ok” to set for Goto. Thinking that my fingers were already fast enough, Mooey was even faster. Before I could press “Goto”, Mooey shouted, “Look for M35!” Drats… I was like WTH!? :k-=X: This frenzy continued throughout the early morning as we constantly battled against time, keying in whatever objects that would show up whenever a portion of the sky clears. Captivated with the R200ss and to keep up with time, MooEy’s portaball was left untouched and soon forgotten! Opps.. :k-chuckle: After all that madness to search as much objects as possible before dawn breaks, we somehow managed to ‘shoot down’ more than 20 objects in total in ~2hours! :o Given the quality of the skies at Ubin, this is certainly a feat. As if all these were not enough, I grabbed the binoculars to find more stuff. Most notable was when I looked at the head of Taurus through the bino and oh my!! Just the bino alone was enough to put me in awe!!! There were so many stars in that region that I was lost in the sky for a moment. Couldn’t find the main constellation itself! After much searching and neck ache, I finally found the head of Taurus through the binos! The ‘V’ shape fitted pretty nicely in the bino and it was a really magical sight! All these excitement during that short ~2hours was enough to keep me wide awake till dawn. Not forgetting those lousy mosquitoes around, Jin Peng became so paranoid about catching the dengue fever after being bitten by a supposed Aedes mosquito that he spent most of the time lighting up numerous mosquito coils when skies were still badly overcast then. Just for that night alone, we used about 3 whole packs of mosquito coils. The campsite was so filled with smoke that it was literally free of mosquitoes! I was looking at some of the members when they gave that drowsy ‘high’ look, and for a split-second, the thought of mosquito coil addiction came to me. Geeee… =P

On the whole, I think the trip to Ubin was not a wasted one as we managed to track down and learn about many objects. Until now, the bare sight of Taurus through the bino and of NGC 2244 close-up through the R200ss is still strongly instilled in my mind. Truly, this is one of the more memorable experiences I have since encountered at Ubin 2 years ago…


For convenience, below is the list of all the objects that we managed to track down with the R200ss:

Objects found:

Planets & Moons
- Moon
- Venus
- Mars
- Saturn & 3 of its moons

Messier Objects
- M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
- M35
- M36
- M38
- M41
- M42 (Great Orion Nebula)
- M44 (Beehive Cluster)
- M45 (Pleiades)
- M46
- M50
- M79
- M93

NGC Objects
- NGC 869 & NGC 884 (Famous Double Cluster in Perseus)
- NGC 1535 (Cleopatra's Eye)
- NGC 2244 (Rosette Nebula)
- NGC 2362

Next Stop: Overnight Ob at Tuas? Let’s go!!! :k-woohoo:


Cheers,
:cheers:
- ALPiNe

[rlow]

Hi Mooey, nice report. Did you guys spend more than 1 night there?

About Tuas, you guys may like to know that there is a darker spot at the end of Tuas South Ave 5, better than Ave 7. David Lian and I just check out that site last night.

[MooEy]

The cluster beside Saturn in Cancer is M44.... but you knew that already.. ;)

Thanks for the report Mooey! Hope the skies in Mersing are good this weekend..

Was your campsite beside the quarry?

Cheers,
Chris

yeah it's m44, seems like u have been obbing lately. the campsite is quite near the quarry, just outside of it. it's after the thai temple.

richard: we only spend one night there. would love to check out the new site one of these days.
~MooEy~

[A 5 YeaR Old]

thai temple? sounds like i've been past that ob site while i was in OBS

[Airconvent]

nice and detailed report, Mooey..
sooner or later you will be writing a book on observing in singapore?
anyway, from alpine's report, seems like a lot of stuff you all saw for a cloudy night!

btw alpine and all new members., please update your equipment list under the equipment list section..thanks!

rich

[MooEy]

thanks for the kind comments. no intention to write any book. just want to motivate the newer members and make them strive on. i remember when i started this hobby, weixing's ob report greatly inspire me. his report include alot of objects which i thought are not possible to be seen in sg. after reading his report i went out and try a little with gd results. so i guess i'll just continue posting some ob report here and there.

ps: i dunno wat alpine is going to put in her equipment list, maybe the following
2x 7mm eyeballs
1x spectacles

~MooEy~

[ALPiNe]

....................

And MooEy shall be my tripod? =_= *Sits on MooEy* :roll:


- ALPiNe

[Airconvent]

thanks for the kind comments. no intention to write any book. just want to motivate the newer members and make them strive on. i remember when i started this hobby, weixing's ob report greatly inspire me. his report include alot of objects which i thought are not possible to be seen in sg. after reading his report i went out and try a little with gd results. so i guess i'll just continue posting some ob report here and there.

ps: i dunno wat alpine is going to put in her equipment list, maybe the following
2x 7mm eyeballs
1x spectacles

~MooEy~

ha ha ok...noted..she can put that in if she like until she gets her "stuff".
anyway, I thought she had a goto from her report....anyway, for all other new members, do update, so we can have an idea what singastro has...
cheers
rich