Wow ! really clear skies tonight ! ( sun apr 25 )

fiona_ · Post by **fiona_** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 8:27 pm

yep was just standing by my kitchen window when i happened to look up and was pleasantly surprised that despite a crescent moon in the sky , it was completely cloudless over at my side ( tampines ) and suddenly i felt like slapping myself for not getting a telescope when i had the money. any of ya went to take advantage of the kinda rare clear sky 2nite ?

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 9:15 pm

Just came back from watching ..... at Tampines .... LOL ..... Think Weixing must be watching the sky at the other end of Tampines right now ;).

Post by **Airconvent** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:22 am

Yes. quite clear tonight although there is still a thin layer of high altitude cloud.
I'm in a dileimma, either to go observing now or sleep now and hope the sky will remain clear till morning and go to SP to look at the comets at 5am in the morning (can I wake up??? :-) )
Incidently , SP is having an overnight imaging session tonight, so if you still want to join in, do give Sam Lee a call...Remus would be on hand to work his magic on CCD photography..

rich

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:24 am

It was also one of those rare, clear nights over at Toa Payoh Central too. Zong Yao and myself were at the park with the MN56 for about an hour. Still fresh from the recent Galang Island trip, I was a little ambitious and spent most of the time trying to hunt down some of the objects I saw during the trip.

The GRS was visible on Jupiter this evening (around 10pm), and one of it's moons was just appearing from behind the planet. Cute ! We had about 10 deep sky observations (mostly the usual stuff) in the bag, but we failed on the following :

M65 [managed to detect it's slightly brighter neighbour - M66]

M81, M82 [lost in the sky glow]

M83 [a *large* and *relatively bright* roundish smudge observed through the 70mm Pronto on Galang Island...but invisible through the 127mm MN56 in Toa Payoh ! Tsk tsk tsk...]

Centaurus A [interesting cigar shaped galaxy observed through the 70mm Pronto on Galang Island...again, was invisible through the 127mm MN56 in Toa Payoh]

:roll:

Still, I believe they may be visible from the darker areas in Singapore and will try again when I have the chance.

How did the other observing sessions go ?

Post by **weixing** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:45 am

Hi,
I start my observation at 20:30 at the usual site beside Tampines Stadium. I spent most of my time testing my coolpix 4500 RAW mode vs JPEG mode on jupiter. Will process the image later.

Anyway, the sky was very very clear... I view the Moon through my Pentax XL... WOW!

After taking my test images, it was quite late or too early, so I decided to test my Pentax XL eyepieces before pack up. I select the two easy target - Jewel box(Open Cluster) and Omega Centauri(Globular Cluster). The Jewel box was very very nice with lots of star visible and the Omega Centauri was clearly and easily resolve at 107x. Very happy with my Pentax eyepieces.

Hope that this coming Saturday night will be this good... can haunt the comets...

Have a nice day.

Post by **rcj** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:36 pm

Glad you are enjoying the XLs!

Sam Lee · Post by **Sam Lee** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:02 pm

Was in SP overnighting together with Remus, Wei Cong, PH7(Thomas). While remus is busily working his magic on the ccd, we were observing using a c8 in a nearby basketball court. Manage to locate some galaxies:

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)
M104 (Sombrero Hat Galaxy)(It doesn't look as bright as it should be..)

PH7(Thomas) was busily learning constellations and also managed to learn the basics of star hopping. Good Work!

I've also managed to catch the satelite that chrisyeo mention in another thread. At around 6.15am, most of us managed to catch a satelite flying by very slowly at the zenith, from West to East.

Regards,
Sam

shoelevy · Post by **shoelevy** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 9:20 pm

i shot jupiter with my 5inch SCT...my first successful one all thanks to good sky

ykchia · Post by **ykchia** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 11:31 pm

Hello folks:

Meanwhile in Woodlands (Sunday 25 April) I tested out my latest set up - c8 @f3.3 on a tripod using Mintron integration (non cooled) and my usual watec 902H/75mm video lens as finder.... seen several compact star clusters from Crux to Keyhole Nebulae and was amazed at the no of stars detected. The keyhole nebula...pic is posted here

http://www.ykchia.com/t7continue1.htm

rgds
ykchia
www.ykchia.com

pH_7 · Post by **pH_7** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 1:37 pm

Sunday night was really a good night, many constellations could be seen with naked eyes but all thanks to sam and wei cong for being around guiding me or else i would miss such a good chance to learn!! Not just constellations alone, i even learn how to find M6, M7 and if i am not wrong M4 too and of coz many more!! Well thanks again guys. Sam, don't come chasing me holding a knife if u didn't have enough time to study for your exams lol good luck.

Good day
Thomas