Observatory Session this Friday (17th August 2007)

Post by **rcj** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:53 am

Hi all,

This is just a routine announcement (and reminder) that the Singapore Science Center observatory is open to the public this Friday (17th August 2007). For those of you who have not seen through the resident 16-inch Classical Cassegrain Telescope and a 6-inch apochromatic refractor, feel free to join us there from 8PM onwards. The observatory will be open for a nominal 2 hours thereafter, and is strictly weather permitting like all other observing sessions. There will be ground telescopes present besides the ones in the observatory. This helps to somewhat lessen the length of the crowd queue in the observatory. The last session had about 60 people!

Session Details:
Venue: Singapore Science Center Observatory
Date: 17th August 2007 (this Friday)
Time: 8PM

You may feel free to bring your own telescopes as well. There is a grass patch next to the observatory where you can set up. Admission is free.

Fuzzball · Post by **Fuzzball** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:39 pm

Hi Remus

How is the light pollution there? I notice spotlights on the last few times. hope is better right now. I brought around 40 people for the session once but due to the light pollution, we werent able to see much:(

Post by **weixing** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:04 pm

Hi,

How is the light pollution there? I notice spotlights on the last few times. hope is better right now. I brought around 40 people for the session once but due to the light pollution, we werent able to see much:(

The light pollution there is quite bad especially on Friday night, because the floodlights in a near by golf field are on as people are playing night golf.

Also, IMHO, the view through the main 16" scope wasn't that great due to the scope and it's surrounding haven't cool down during the observation period, so don't expect too high on the main 16" scope. Anyway, the view of the 6" APO "finder scope" are a lots better.

Have a nice day.

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:09 pm

Newbies are encouraged to go there,
the last time i was there, the experience is quite good.
some singastro members were also there helping out.

Post by **rcj** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:32 pm

Hi Fuzzball,

The sessions are mainly held for the purpose of creating an awareness for observaitonal astronomy and there are lots of newbies present. The recent sessions have been promising, and sometimes we see notable objects like Jupiter and the Moon. I have tried locating Omega Centauri, and other clusters using the scope towards the end of the session. We have also managed to see the Ring Nebula, Lagoon Nebula, and other Sagittarius-Scorpius objects. Like Weixing has mentioned, the lights from the golf-course will hinder observations, but sometimes they are off. The last few sessions were fine, maybe we were lucky. Where time permits, imaging through the observatory cassegrain is possible as well, as long as the crowds are not there (especially towards the later part of the night). Nowadays there are also astronomers coming along with their personal telescopes to set up on the grassland below. Surprisingly, the collimation of the scope has improved somewhat, and more details on Jupiter surface can be seen, unlike few months back.

Hope this helps!

Post by **rcj** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:33 pm

btw, the sessions are held almost every Friday, so just come down if you are free. Maybe can put this as a sticky.

Sam Lee · Post by **Sam Lee** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:10 pm

The observatory session in Science Center has underwent a lot of changes since the time when a new batch of people took over. Its no longer a 'look but dont touch' sessions (haha , that is what i experienced) . The people in charge of the sessions are generally more friendly and approachable. Most of them are true astronomy hobbyist and would be more than happy to show you objects around the skies.
This is why there are renewed interest in the sessions among the general public. You will see people pocking their handheld cameras (be it handphones or handy cams) into the eyepiece to get a blur shot of Jupiter.
And while everybody is trying to squeeze their way into the observatory to get a peek (causing it to turn into a 'cookhouse' , as quoted by Mr Au) , there are always a few astronomers setting up scopes at the ground level grass patch to 'load balance' the crowd. It also offers a more unrestricted approach and allows for more interactions with the public. You can sometimes see 'ah boys' actively making use of their 'toy' scopes and benefiting from the experience (haha , stop complaining about your colourful achromats and small apertures).

So , whoever you are , what level of experience do you have , come down and join us during one of these sessions and share your experience with the rest.

Regards,
Sam

Fuzzball · Post by **Fuzzball** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:39 pm

Thanks for the replies, I agree that the SSC has been more focus to bring awareness to this hobby. The person that assist my group was a Mr Kwong from SSC and he was pretty helpful.

Thanks, I may be there this friday.

Post by **rcj** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:57 pm

Yes, he is a nice man. Ok, see u there on Friday!

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:42 pm

Hi everyone ! i went to ssc for a few times , and mostly its crowded with lot of people, and mostly saw the moon, saturn and jupiter .Dats my first time there, where i saw my first planet , saturn! ;)
i may be going tonight, but for now its still raining here... clear skys please