Probable Observation Session: 05 June 2004

Post by **weixing** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:08 pm

Hi,
It had been a whole week that the weather is so bad that I can't have any observation, so I plan to have an observation session on Saturday night 05 Jun 2004 at the grass field opposite the Tampines Swimming Complex/Mosque/Blk 860A Tampines Ave 5. I will be there at around 21:00 and the observation may start at around 21:45 when the flood light of the swimming complex is off.

Anyone who are interested can join me.

Hope the weather will be good on 05 June 2004... so keep our finger cross!

Have a nice day.

PS: The grass is quite thick and the ground is quite uneven at the edge of the field, so just be careful when you enter the field. Track shoes is recommended and insect repellant may be necessary.

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:23 am

i'll be joining you ...

Debash · Post by **Debash** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:53 am

I'll be there if the weather improves a bit..washout this morning

Post by **weixing** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:18 pm

Hi,
The grass field opposite the Mosque/Swimming complex is very wet, due to the morning down pour. So we relocate to the small field outside the Mosque and Swimming Complex, or beside the Tampines Sport Complex. There is a small concrete path that cut through the field... the area was quite dark... at least darker than my old usual site beside the stadium.... hee hee this will become my usual observation site next time...

By the way, there are 6 scopes that come for the observation session... hee hee at least a scope for every basic scope type. The below are the scope that come for the observation session:
1) Takahashi FC-76 Fluorite Apochromatic Refractor (StarFirez),
2) Takahashi FS-78 Fluorite Apochromatic Refractor (Clemgoh),
3) Vixen 102M Achromatic Refractor (JohnTeh),
4) Sky-Watcher 6" Newtonian (weixing),
5) Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain (Ariefm71), and
6) Intes MK67 Maksutov-Cassegrain (Debash).

Anyway, the sky start to clear up at 22:00... the jewel box in Crux, omega centauri was clearly visible and we observed the Jupiter as it went down to the west. We also take the opportunity to compare the view through all the scope... Takahashi APO is really good... although the image is dim due to smaller aperture, but it produce a crisp and high contrast images free of secondary color over the entire field of view... wow... now imagine what a larger aperture Takahashi APO can do... dream on.. dream on...

!

We view quite a number of M object before a large area cloud move in at around 3:30am that end the observation session.

By the way, the M57 Ring Nebula was a real surprise. Athought there was a big moon washing out nearly everything on the sky, we can still see the two star, Sheliak and Sulafat, in Lyra with our nake eye. The M57 Ring Nebula can be easily seen... look like a small ring or a small defocus star, using 27x. The M57 Ring Nebula become more visible using 107x magnification and still can be seen at a high 214x magnification... wow!!!

Really look forwards to our next observation session...

Have a nice day.

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:36 am

Some nice pics taken by huiting (starfirez)...

clemgoh's tak fs-78: the dream apo

arief's c8: the light bucket

debash's intes mk67: the apo killer!

Post by **Airconvent** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:53 am

Hi weixing
Looked like you had a very good time again as usual...no wonder did not answer your phone! I see ChemGoh's refractor has been shrink wrapped like a new car...and Debash's MN67 seems to have some sort of reactive armour attached?? ..

.
Was the sky clear that clear? It has been pretty bad all the way since we came back from Mersing. I noticed last night after about 12am the sky cleared a little but there were still clouds around and the moon appeared slightly blurred. Seems it is better in Tampines?

Anyway, your ring nebula success left me wondering what it would have looked like on my Orion. I saw the "dot" at low mag in Mersing but never really bothered to swap in my 4mm to see it at x150..what a waste.

Next time, besides your posting, can activate TSN (Tampines Sky Network) or not ? Then at least we know there are people there. Wira called me but due to sky poor, did not go but if he had known you had a session there after 12am, he will probably pop by... so is TSN a good idea? :roll:

rich

Post by **weixing** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:14 am

Hi,

Looked like you had a very good time again as usual...no wonder did not answer your phone!

Ha Ha... sorry didn't see your call.. busy answer so many sms, calls and setting up my scope that miss your call totally. If you didn't mention it, I still don't know you called. :oops:

Next time, besides your posting, can activate TSN (Tampines Sky Network) or not ? Then at least we know there are people there.

OK... no problem... I will sms you first.

Have a nice day.

fizzy123 · Post by **fizzy123** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:11 am

Hi Weixing,
good to hear of ur success at stargazing tat nite. It has been quite cloudy in Singapore for nearly 3 weeks with not even one clear nite! :?

I only managed to observe crux and centarus and the rest is cloudy, even the famed Jewel box cluster in crux looks 'pathetic', with only a few 'drips' of stars.

Debash · Post by **Debash** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:20 am

Debash's MN67 seems to have some sort of reactive armour attached?? .. .

Hi Rich,

Well..MK67 is a made of russian tank material so a protective armour is a right dressing I guess...

looking at this picture I realised my dewshield was wrapped inside-out..too eager to set up scope and get on with obbing after so many rainy days.

Thanks Huiting for the pictures and Arief for comments..cheers

Post by **weixing** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:38 am

Hi fizzy123,
You may want to join us in the future. The problem when you observe alone is that when the the sky is cloudy, you will get bore and end the observation. Then you may miss the clear sky that appear a few hour later.

But when you observe in a group, we can always sit around and chit chat, so that we will not feel bore while waiting for the sky to clear.

Have a nice day.