Milky way?

[Gary]

How long is the beach open? if the Milky Way is visible there it might be a good alternative to the long drive up north... and safer than the creepy place in Kranji.

Visible to CCD after long exposure + post processing. Not visually unfortunately.

[orly_andico]

I think it's still worth checking out... if the Milky Way is visible in DSLR images and isn't swamped by skyglow, this means it's still usable as an imaging location.

[looyaa]

How long is the beach open? if the Milky Way is visible there it might be a good alternative to the long drive up north... and safer than the creepy place in Kranji.

I stayed there till max 10:30pm so I am not sure whether there are any restrictions for staying till early morning hours or overnight. My guess is that there should be some restrictions for safety purposes. But since these beaches are accessible by drive-in any time of the day/night, I doubt that the security (if any) will chase you away unless you are doing some funny things.

Nothing here in SG will beat the dark skies in the north but I would say this is a good alternative site in SG if you need to satisfy your astro craving

btw no mozzies at this location

George

[looyaa]

I think it's still worth checking out... if the Milky Way is visible in DSLR images and isn't swamped by skyglow, this means it's still usable as an imaging location.

Yes it is definitely worth checking out. Not just Tanjong Beach, Palawan Beach may be good as well. I haven't got the chance to explore the entire stretch of the two beaches. Maybe you want to go there to take a look one of these days.

From what I can see, sky glow in the SE to SW direction is not that serious.



St John Island, Sister’s Island and landfill at Pulau Semakau at the SE-SW direction which produce little or some light pollution. There are also no ships anchored off Sentosa in the same direction unlike East Coast where plenty of ships anchored there. It is possible that sea off Sentosa is a shipping route whereby no anchorage is allowed.

For west, north and east direction, not so ideal. West - Light sources from the oil industries on Pulau Bukom. North & East - light glow due to floodlights from Sentosa Golf course and mainland Singapore. Assuming that lights at golf course are turned off after midnight, the North & East sky may be slightly better at later hours.

For widefield shots, I would say this is a good place for photographers who want to try out the Milky Way shots. Under clear skies and just 30 seconds exposure without tracking, you can get instant gratification on seeing the faint Milky Way on the DSLR LCD screen

For visual obs (maybe using bino), I think this will also be a nice place to do so when the sky is clear. I can see many many stars there. If you look at some of my photos, some stars are even visible less than 10 degree above the horizon.



For telescope / DSO imaging, my concerns are the strong winds blowing inland from the sea which may vibrate the telescope and the small beach sands which may accidentally go into the equipment. Maybe a sturdy tripod and careful handling of the equipment should be able to address these concerns. Perhaps if anyone explore the place in future, please drop a note here to let us know about your thoughts on the suitability of the site.

One good thing for those who drive, the admission charge to Sentosa is $2 after 5pm on weekdays & $3 after 5pm on weekends. Parking is only $1 per entry after 5pm. Cost wise it is not that expensive for drivers if go after 7pm. For this place, I just parked my car at Tanjong Beach carpark and walk 100m then can start shooting. If going by public transport, the only issue I foresee is how get out of Sentosa when the public services close shop. Probably need to call a cab after 11pm.

In terms of amenities, I think there are none at Tanjong Beach. Need to bring own food/drinks/chairs. But there is a nearby toilet just behind Tanjong Beach Club. Not so sure for Palawan Beach.

In terms of safety, I did not see any security guards or patrols going around during the two short nights I was there. Although I don’t foresee any problems with safety but it is always good to go with a friend. Once in a while, there will be some people walking by the beach so it is not entirely deserted place.

Here is a shot of the beach...how I wish I can unplugged the "decorative" lights on the trees. The lights on the left actually show up as beams of blue light in some of my photos


Hope these are useful info for all.
George

[Gary]

Nice recce report George! Thanks for sharing.

[looyaa]

Another two shots of the Milky Way to share. pp using monochrome approach. Taken at Tanjong Beach, Sentosa.

Single exposure 50s, iso1600, f/4, 12mm, with astrotracer


Details & original photo: The Milky Way in black-and-white

Single exposure 30s, iso1600, f/4.5, 15mm, no tracking


Details & Original photo: The Milky Way in black-and-white II

Thanks for viewing
George

[Gary]

Beautiful shares! Very nice!

[lqx]

Nice shots! Especially loved the 2nd one with the milky way and those lit coconut trees.

[Sivakis]

I'm loving this series and it's interesting isn't it, to read the article on MW shooting in LA. A higher signal capture is better even if the whole thing turns out initially overexposed.

Think I'm going to revisit some of the old photos that I took over the years that I chucked to 1 side simply because they looked overexposed.

Hopefully these 2 days of heavy rain = clearer skies ahead!

[looyaa]

lqx and Sivakis glad that you like the photos! Thanks for the encouragement!

I'm loving this series and it's interesting isn't it, to read the article on MW shooting in LA. A higher signal capture is better even if the whole thing turns out initially overexposed.

Think I'm going to revisit some of the old photos that I took over the years that I chucked to 1 side simply because they looked overexposed.

Hopefully these 2 days of heavy rain = clearer skies ahead!

Yes the overexpose concept underlying the MW shoot in LA is counter intuitative! It seems to work very well for him. However, I think that it also depends on the camera brand/model.

Based on what I read online, for the Pentax dslr I am using, it is possible to recover more details from underexposed shots than overexposed ones. So not all camera will produce good results if overexposed. Got to understand whether your equipment is more suited for under/overexposed shots. Any nice MW shots from your old photos please share with us!

Same here - hoping for clearer skies!!!! Although I am unlikely have any chance to shoot for the rest of September due to my work schedule, I hope the skies clear up for other photographers to shoot the MW and share the photos with us in this thread.

George