Doomsday Sidewalk Astronomy @ Bishan Park 8.30pm (20 Dec)

[Gary]

The End is Near!

Due to the pasar malam at Toa Payoh Central, I will be conducting a sidewalk astronomy session at Bishan Park tonight from 8.30pm.

Come join in the fun with or without telescopes!

[Mariner]

The rainbow bridge Bifrost is forming. Ragnarok is near!

[Davegn]

The end is even nearer!
Let have a Doomsday sidewalk session part 2!

Date: 21/12/2012
Time: From 8PM onwards
Venue: Bishan Park's McDonald's (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10766&)

Come join us! this maybe be the last stargazing session before doomsday! (Just kidding)

[Gary]

Had a great time doing solo sidewalk at Bishan Park on Thursday night. Testing an upgraded Orion ST80 for the second night there. This ST80 is fitted with a GSO Crayford focuser (single-speed) and a sturdy long dovetail.

Sky was clear on my way there. Upon reaching, clouds rolled in. Set up under shelter at McDonald's. By the time I am done, sky cleared up again. Entertained the families sitting right beside me who saw me setting up but were too shy to ask.


Shot of Moon with phone camera through ST80:

Earlier attempts just before this shot was taken showed obvious coloured fringing. Surprisingly, this last particular shot doesn't. Not very sure what is happening. Perhaps some anti-CA magic happening inside the phone camera processor.

Jupiter still can focus and look decent at 125x --> 32mm plossl + 5x tele-extender + 2x barlow.

WO Binoviewer (BV) test:

scope --> 1.25" diagonal --> BV no barlow = cannot focus.
scope --> 1.25" diagonal --> 1.6x barlow + BV --> cannot focus.
scope --> 1.25" diagonal --> 2x barlow + BV --> Yes! Can focus.
scope --> 1.25" diagonal --> 5x tele-extender + BV --> Yes! Can focus. But getting a bit too heavy. May need to tighten tension in PORTA mount.



Playing eyepiece + barlow Jenga to test the focuser which can also accept 2-inch accessories:


******************************

Had fun interacting with the crowd as usual. One ex-NTU astro club member dropped by and took a look and remembered he had a 70mm scope kept somewhere at home for the past few years.

After enjoying the views through the scope, one kid asked me a few times why I am doing this even though I have explained myself as simply as I can - to share the amazing views with others. This is quite entertaining and a little sad at the same time. Perhaps kids are smarter these days and doubtful of apparent "free lunches" when they do not see any donation box around such telescope setup. Or perhaps they have not experienced random kindness in our society on a regular basis to fully comprehend the notion of free public service.

The rest of the regular Bishan group was not free that night. But doing sidewalk astronomy alone once in while is a good check if one is still into a hobby for what it is and not just the company from fellow enthusiasts.

[Gary]

Thanks to Jeff's suggestion via whatsapp, also managed to focus the WO binoviewer on the ST80 buy threading the 1.6x barlow *in front* of the 1.25" mirror diagonal:

Pair of 20mm --> Binoviewer --> 1.25" mirror diagonal --> 1.6x barlow --> ST80.