Astronomy (Punggai) 3D2N Expedition (March 19-21)
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Airconvent
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oohh.these trips really give really good skies so its a pity it was cloudy but I guess you all had fun nonetheless trying to spot objects between c louds and ogling at other's scope in the dark!croys wrote:Thanks to everyone for all the effort that went into arranging the trip. Shame about the cloudy skies. But still, I managed a couple of "firsts" - first sight of Omega Centauri and first proper view of M51 through the big C14.
Cheers,
Stuart
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The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before
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United Federation of the Planets
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starfinder
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Here is a brief summary of the trip and some photos.
We boarded the very comfortable bus at NUS and left at 8.25pm on Fri night. We arrived at the Chalet in Punggai (via the Tuas crossing) at about 11.40pm.
The skies were then only partially clear, mainly around the Canis Major to Crux region, for about an hour. Thereafter, as far as I know, it was very cloudy throughout the night and even rained from around 3am.
The next morning (Sat), it continued to drizzle non-stop from dawn till around 3pm.
I took the opportunity of the cool weather to take a splendid countryside walk from the chalet up north 2.5km along a tree-lined Malayan coastal road, passing by grazing cows and friendly local villagers. I visited a village (Kampung Punggai) which flanked both sides of the mouth of the Sungei Punggai river, near which I bought a dozen slices of goreng pisang at a roadside stall for only RM2.
The skies cleared somewhat around 5pm. From dusk, it was somewhat clear for the next 2 hours and I managed to view the Orion and Canis Major/Puppis region through binoculars. I also chatted with a group of Malaysian astronomers from their national space agency, who had travelled all the way from KL. As it was very cloudy, I slept at around 11pm. I woke up at 3am to find it drizzling.
Then I woke up again at 5.45am (somehow did not set the alarm for 5am as planned) to find the skies very clear overhead. The region around the Crux to Sagittarius/Scorpius to Aquila region was very clear, though the Milky Way was certainly not as bright and distinct as when I viewed it at Telok Sari and at the area just south of Sedili Kechil (dubbed “Sedili South Centauri” by me). This was probably due to Punggai's closer proximity to JB/Singapore and the nearby street lamps.
Anyway, that has been my experience many times when at the east coast of Johor in around March to mid-year: it can be completely cloudy the whole night from sunset but then the clouds often completely clear off around 4-5am, so it pays to wait till then.
I then went for a walk along the nearby beach across the road (Telok Punggai bay) just before sunrise where I took some nice photos (see one of them below).
We had breakfast at the chalet (which included good Roti Prata) and then boarded the bus just before 10am.
Here are some photos:
Boarding the bus
The chalet
Pitched tent and scopes at the chalet, in drizzly weather
Local “wildlife” as my Ixus saw it
Malayan countryside road
Village at the mouth of Sungei Punggai
Roadside goreng pisang stall at the village
Scopes set up all ready to roll
Some fine optics
Sundog at sunset
Beautiful sunrise at the nearby beach
We boarded the very comfortable bus at NUS and left at 8.25pm on Fri night. We arrived at the Chalet in Punggai (via the Tuas crossing) at about 11.40pm.
The skies were then only partially clear, mainly around the Canis Major to Crux region, for about an hour. Thereafter, as far as I know, it was very cloudy throughout the night and even rained from around 3am.
The next morning (Sat), it continued to drizzle non-stop from dawn till around 3pm.
I took the opportunity of the cool weather to take a splendid countryside walk from the chalet up north 2.5km along a tree-lined Malayan coastal road, passing by grazing cows and friendly local villagers. I visited a village (Kampung Punggai) which flanked both sides of the mouth of the Sungei Punggai river, near which I bought a dozen slices of goreng pisang at a roadside stall for only RM2.
The skies cleared somewhat around 5pm. From dusk, it was somewhat clear for the next 2 hours and I managed to view the Orion and Canis Major/Puppis region through binoculars. I also chatted with a group of Malaysian astronomers from their national space agency, who had travelled all the way from KL. As it was very cloudy, I slept at around 11pm. I woke up at 3am to find it drizzling.
Then I woke up again at 5.45am (somehow did not set the alarm for 5am as planned) to find the skies very clear overhead. The region around the Crux to Sagittarius/Scorpius to Aquila region was very clear, though the Milky Way was certainly not as bright and distinct as when I viewed it at Telok Sari and at the area just south of Sedili Kechil (dubbed “Sedili South Centauri” by me). This was probably due to Punggai's closer proximity to JB/Singapore and the nearby street lamps.
Anyway, that has been my experience many times when at the east coast of Johor in around March to mid-year: it can be completely cloudy the whole night from sunset but then the clouds often completely clear off around 4-5am, so it pays to wait till then.
I then went for a walk along the nearby beach across the road (Telok Punggai bay) just before sunrise where I took some nice photos (see one of them below).
We had breakfast at the chalet (which included good Roti Prata) and then boarded the bus just before 10am.
Here are some photos:
Boarding the bus
The chalet
Pitched tent and scopes at the chalet, in drizzly weather
Local “wildlife” as my Ixus saw it
Malayan countryside road
Village at the mouth of Sungei Punggai
Roadside goreng pisang stall at the village
Scopes set up all ready to roll
Some fine optics
Sundog at sunset
Beautiful sunrise at the nearby beach
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Airconvent
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Hey Gavin
Thanks for the photos...looks very wet though. But the cows look familiar, relatives of the Mersing bunch?
But the road looks much better than the grass in Mersing. At least nice hard ground and lesser insects.
Thanks for the photos...looks very wet though. But the cows look familiar, relatives of the Mersing bunch?
But the road looks much better than the grass in Mersing. At least nice hard ground and lesser insects.
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets