Singapore HDB Astronomy

Kelvin · Post by **Kelvin** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 12:30 pm

Hey ! I find astronomy in singapore very...wah lah.... and i live in a HDB flat (high rise) and i get a good view of the sky over the horzian.

Did you guys feel an uncomrtable about taking you scopes out to the field if any ?? or simply observe at home?? i live in Yishun and don't think these few days are much to see, stars only up to Mag 3 or 4. and living in a HDB don't really help much to see the big sky.

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 12:38 pm

Nope .... don't feel uncomfortable at all. People are just curious at what you are looking at and if you tell them, chances are they want to look into the scope too

.

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:53 pm

Hey ! I find astronomy in singapore very...wah lah.... and i live in a HDB flat (high rise) and i get a good view of the sky over the horzian.

Did you guys feel an uncomrtable about taking you scopes out to the field if any ?? or simply observe at home?? i live in Yishun and don't think these few days are much to see, stars only up to Mag 3 or 4. and living in a HDB don't really help much to see the big sky.

Kelvin : I do bring out my scopes pretty often in my area (Toa Payoh Central). Some other members here do bring out theirs in their respective residential areas too. You can read more on those sessions in the Observing Sessions section.

blurblock : You are right ! The standard dialogue in residential areas goes something like this,

Passer-by : (Stops near the telescope and looks up in the direction the scope is pointed, then walk right up to you) "May I know what you are looking at ?"
Scope owner : "(Name of a Planet)"

Passer-by : "Really !? You mean you can see it from here ?"
Scope owner : "(With a wide grin

) Yes."

Passer-by : "Wow, can I take a look ?"
Scope owner : "Sure. Through here (points to the eyepiece)"

Passer-by : (After a few seconds) "WOW" (usually accompanied by a look like this

)
Scope owner :

From here, it will usually go two ways.

(1) The passer-by will thank you and be on his/her way

or

(2) The conversation will go on and they will ask you how you knew that the starlike point the scope is pointed at is (Name of a Planet), what is the "power" of your telescope etc... If so, the scope owner would usually spend the next few minutes explaining how to visually differentiate planets from stars, the concept of magnification etc...etc...and the conversation will either go back to (1) or develop into (3)

(3) Discussion on current and past NASA missions, E.T

, UFOs

....etc...etc then usually back to (1)

Post by **VinSnr** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 2:10 pm

From here, it will usually go two ways.

(1) The passer-by will thank you and be on his/her way

or

(2) The conversation will go on and they will ask you how you knew that the starlike point the scope is pointed at is (Name of a Planet), what is the "power" of your telescope etc... If so, the scope owner would usually spend the next few minutes explaining how to visually differentiate planets from stars, the concept of magnification etc...etc...and the conversation will either go back to (1) or develop into (3)

(3) Discussion on current and past NASA missions, E.T , UFOs ....etc...etc then usually back to (1)

Haha..how true....

But there was once, I kena a guy who ask me to sell my scope to him the first time after he viewed through the eyepiece. I tried to divert attention to other things but he just insist on the sale. Quite a weird guy...

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 2:22 pm

Then just ask him to get a new scope from Sam or Jim (Not Astro at Science Centre .... Please .... they treat all customer as carrot, ask them for a quote and they quote me $1285 (GST Excluded) for a 4.5inch Newtonian, what nerves) or sell him your scope then get one new scope

. Like that help to promote local Astronomy at the same time play with new toys mah .... Since you always play with new toys

.

Grievous · Post by **Grievous** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:18 pm

Lucky for me, i have a delicious view of the southern skies, which is good for binocular viewing. But whenever i'm down to my multistorey carpark/void deck, some people do come and ask what's up with this guy with a big tube that could be looking into their apartments? But most of the time, after they know what i'm looking at, they are more interested in when i usually come down to observe! How i wished that the local MP lives in my block, that will push up the awareness/ light pollution awareness by a few notches! But nonetheless, my neighbour's kids are more or less interested in stargazing already!

Charlie

Kelvin · Post by **Kelvin** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 7:38 am

Oh yeah you gays are right, people often wonder if you are some sort of secret service agent or PI, oh man.

i often use to use the corride outside my home to view in HDB, but the light polluation is bad !@!! often see only Mag 3 or 4 stars,

Post by **VinSnr** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 4:45 pm

Kelvin wrote:Oh yeah you gays are right, people often wonder if you are some sort of secret service agent or PI, oh man.

Gays? I don't know about charlie...but I am not...

Kelvin · Post by **Kelvin** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 6:36 pm

sorry i mean guys...really sorry,

Anyway, these few days are raining and overcasted skys there won't be much seeing for these few days.

I still looking for a good scope...but i will contine to observe with my spotting scope till i find a good scope.

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 6:53 pm

If you stay at Yishun, should have quite a lot of good place to observe mah

.