Mars Watch 2005 Discussion Board

kayheem · Post by **kayheem** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:57 am

As a visitor, I think the event was a big success because of (in no particular order):
1) Good turnout by the public
2) Well-attended talks
3) Wide range of scopes from 60mm refractor to 300mm SCT with apos, dobs, newts, Mewlons, portaball in between.
4) Good location
5) Vendor stalls from TPS, McGill, AstroSci
6) Well-organized with ushers, signs, adequate car parks, drinks stall, logistics support etc
7) Fairly good skies :-)
8) Friendly and folks manning the scopes

Credit must go to:
1) the organizers e.g. Chris Yeo, the astro clubs of participating institutions
2) the public turnout and support
3) enthusiatic turnout by Singastro scope owners

Kay Heem

siahheng · Post by **siahheng** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:35 am

I would like to thank the organisers and the owners who brought their scopes out to share. My wife, kids and friends who came for the Mars Watch 2005 absolutely enjoyed themselves.... thank you for making it a memorable evening. Glad also to meet so many singastro members.

siahheng

Post by **acc** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:36 am

Congrats to the organisers and all who pitched in to help! Its nice to see the polys actively involved. I think its especially an accomplishment considering that the team only have limited time to put this event together after initial plans became still-born

AGMI · Post by **AGMI** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:25 am

even the today newspapaper editor's friend got interested!

Jiin · Post by **Jiin** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:04 pm

Wowee!

There was an incredible buffet of scopes last night. I was so engrossed feasting on the different views of Mars through everyone else’s scopes that I only managed to setup mine around 12a.m. Based on Mooey’s rough count, the total number of scopes hovered above 30 – such a carnival of equipment! 8-)

It was great to see the various institutes and Singastro members interacting and having an astronomical time. In terms of creating the time+place for a lively interaction, the event has more than achieved this.

The turnout by the public was very encouraging. Quite an indication on the level of potential interest in astronomy amongst the general public simply waiting to be sparked by astronomical events.

A [font=Comic Sans MS] big thank you[/font] to the team that organized the event – Chris Yeo, RP, SP, all the other institutes and Singastro members. :worship:

Cheers,
Jiin

Post by **weixing** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:37 pm

Hi,
The event was really a success... IMHO, it was the most sucessful SingAstro event that I had attended... I think the member of public actually outnumbered SingAstro guys this time...

Also, must thanks mother earth to clear up the sky and didn't rain during this raining and cloudy season... although a bit late, but at least we can see Mars... ha ha ha

Thanks to Chris Yeo, RP, SP and all others who manage to turn up for the event. :cheers: :goodjob: :goodjob: :goodjob:

Have a nice day.

Tachyon · Post by **Tachyon** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:05 pm

weixing wrote:The event was really a success...

And also the fact that you managed to sell your tripod and secure your next scope?

Post by **weixing** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:26 pm

Hi,

And also the fact that you managed to sell your tripod and secure your next scope?

Ha Ha Ha... thanks for your help... my friend...

Anyway, still didn't manage to see through your VC200L...

Have a nice day.

chrisyeo · Post by **chrisyeo** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:33 pm

Honour roll!!

Just so you know the people behind the scenes who deserve your praise:

RP club members and President Jin Peng: You guys did the most work! Thank you for taking care of all the logistics: venue, chairs, lights, volunteers, whiteboards, benches, sound system, projector, traffic, reception, medics, and the million other things.
SP club members and President Geraldine: Geraldine: printing, contacting all the school and institutions (while doing her final year project!); Geoffrey & others: mars talk and poster; Kenneth: Mars Flyer
Mooey: One of the four who did the main planning. Assisted everywhere and also did the necessary shopping.
Airconvent, Richard: Publicity: contacting all the newspapers and countless forums.
VinSnr, Vincent: Practical astronomy talk
NGC5139, Philip: Mars Brochure
Astrobargains and Mcgill: for their donations of $100 each.
The Physical Space, Wee Kiong: for spicing things up with the auctions and sketching competition and for being so supportive and bringing your equipment down.
NJC club members: loaning of their astronomy posters; setting up of drink stall

Basically, the whole initial idea was just to have a small star party. It was only because of the enthusiastic support of all the various above individuals’ support that more and more became possible.

The RP Astronomy club president really deserves mention again because without him and his club, none of it would have been possible. It’s really amazing how much he had to coordinate on the ground.

Am really glad that it did not rain and there were no major hiccups. Really had fun. Thanks everyone for bring down your scopes and sharing with the public. Thanks also to all the schools who came down for your support.

Chris

chrisyeo · Post by **chrisyeo** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:39 pm

I believe some of you missed out on this brochure that was supposed to be given out to everyone who came.

Please take a look if you haven't already seen it. Done by NGC5139, slight editing by Kenneth and me.

Please share your photos online because my camera ran out of battery!Also, if you wish to write something about the event, please go ahead!