Dubai Astronomy Group (Video)

[Gary]

Very inspiring video about Dubai Astronomy Group!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IodD_Mo_0i0

[VinSnr]

I was in Dubai 3 years ago, the desert environment really makes it great for astronomy.

And the people there are buying Ferraris like buying toys.

Perhaps should get hold of Mr. Hasan and ask him to buy some land in Spore and make it only for astro use??

[Gary]

LOL! Or just built a long pipeline and pump some black gold here.

[aleetk]

Everytime I see pictures or videos like that from other countries, it just makes me want to migrate. Can't wait to go for my next holiday. Singapore has nothing but buildings and people and of course, a whole lot of light pollution.

[bornfree]

ok, time to plan a visit to see my brother in dubai...

[antares2063]

Nice..well guess we have to deal with the kind of weather we are dealt with..

I find it abit strange that as the light pollution worsens in sg, more schools , institutions have observatories built, kind of defeats the purpose?

[aleetk]

With more infrastructure being built in sg means more lights. In the future the light pollution here might be so bad that you probably have a hard time viewing the moon also

[starfinder]

Cool!

In Singapore, we have to buy housing land like they're Ferraris.

I was actually toying with the idea of going to UAE or nearby Oman for Comet Ison in early December. That region has some of the lowest cloud coverages around the world at that time of the year, but it's not very far north (for the comet). Maybe I'll contact that guy in the video. Haha.

[Airconvent]

Interesting! So I think besides transporting oil, the pipeline can be used as telescope OTA!.

[Gary]

Nice..well guess we have to deal with the kind of weather we are dealt with.. I find it abit strange that as the light pollution worsens in sg, more schools , institutions have observatories built, kind of defeats the purpose?

So we must not rely on schools and institutions alone to promote astronomy in SG. From the perspective of general awareness, I rather there are more such observatories built (at lesser costs perhaps). They can serve as regular visual reminder of the need to address the light pollution problem. Else, without such visual reminders, might be even worse in the long term. It's like speed cameras on the road that remind drivers to drive within speed limits.

With more infrastructure being built in sg means more lights. In the future the light pollution here might be so bad that you probably have a hard time viewing the moon also

Haha. Yupe. But then again, with the building height limit removed for some areas, the view may be better at future roof top gardens.

On a serious note, like I have mentioned in a Changi Beach light pollution thread, let's try to find put into action (no matter how small) to back up our serious concern about light pollution by spreading astro awareness which will also increase light pollution awareness. Can be as simple as a commitment to conduct one 30-min sidewalk session every month with a super light grab-n-go setup at a location near our house or workplace. Need not be in super high human-traffic area. 1 more sidewalk "customer" aware about astro per month, 1 more potential supporter for need to reduce light pollution. There may come a time when we need all the public supporters we can get when some super light polluting policies are about to be implemented.

A good example will be the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) (now Nature Society (Singapore)) impressive commitment to spread nature awareness over the decades. If not for their hard work over the years (and other nature-loving activists), we may have Gardens by the Sungei Buloh super skyscrapers!

So every time you feel the light pollution problem is too big to solve in Singapore, go for a nature walk at Sungei Buloh!