Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
you guys are funny! yeah, that's a picture taken from the Mersing expedition many years back when CC still had the 8". Would have been interesting (and tempting) to include a human figure into the "ball" but perhaps it would be carried too far (pun intended). hehehe....
There will be two iridium flare sight oppotunities based on the
observing site location on the 6th and 7th October early morning
if you are interested. The information is as follows:
06 Oct
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Time: 05:43:56AM
Intensity (Magnitude): -3
Altitude: 34°
Azimuth: 178° (S )
Satellite: Iridium 64
07 Oct
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Time: 05:38:01AM
Intensity (Magnitude): -0
Altitude: 32°
Azimuth: 177° (S )
Satellite: Iridium 67
Please note that there are however no visible ISS or HST passes during this expedition period.
This is the last reminder to all those coming tomorrow (Friday 5th October) that we will all be meeting at 7PM SHARP at the Changi Ferry Terminal location before leaving for the destination. Do not forget your unexpired passports!
did everyone enjoy the trip? here's a quick report on the trip for those eagerly awaiting for one from spore! hahaha....
First of all, although both nights were not as good as the last expedition to Mersing, it was quite a fun trip with the wacko astro dudes from the polytechnic and SINGASTRO, together with some foreign exchange students. The first night had above average transparency but with low passing cumulus clouds. The earlier part of the night was pretty good, managed to grab some good imaging time then, but towards midnight, the frequency of passing clouds had increased. Nevertheless, there were quite a few scopes set up both at the grass patch just outside our ground-floor-based rooms, and the observing site at the netball court further upfront. Mosquitoes were aplenty, and that kept us constantly on the move together with garnered excitement from the sight of the starry sky from the newbie students. We had refractors, SCTs and the Portaball, also quite a few tripods with cameras afixed on short exposures of star fields and long exposures of star trails compositions. Shortly after the arrival of the main group at about 10PM, everyone interacted during suppertime, and then proceeded with a continuous night of stargazing until the wee hours when the crescent moon was up. It was quite a nice sight, especially with the moon's reflection in the waters together with coconut tree silhouttes, wondered if anyone took this composure....hmm...
The following day was sweltering hot, but many seek refuge in a swim in the pool and the sea. Some decided to head out to the nearby town for some sightseeing. Otherwise stayed in the cozy rooms and chalked up on lost sleep. The breakfast was unforgettable, and being buffet style, it was not uncommon to see everyone eating more than 3 servings. Some ate ten eggs in a row! The spread consisted of mainly toasted bread with kaya,butter, etc, three choices of cornflakes with milk, fruit platter, pancakes, sunny-side eggs (cooked live in front of you), noodles, rice, porridge, roti-prata (live), etc, etc....
The second night was not as good, but still, the visual observers tried viewing a few DSOs, during the fleeting clear moments. At one point in time, most of the scopes were pointed at Dumbell nebula, and everyone could compare and enjoy the views with varying FOVs and depth. In all, it was quite an enjoyable trip, and we will probably look to organising another one after Chinese New Year in 2008. Stay tuned!