Gazing Into Eternity

Solar Frus....

2010-01-22T09:43:00.000+08:00

I have only on word to describe the last outing during the partial solar eclipse in Singapore - pathetic!

Though it didn't rain, the clouds played havoc to the event which made our time out at the carpark behind the church a washout. The sun was shining brightly enough before the appointed time range where we would pay closer attention to the sun in the sky. Then came the clouds that began to play the irritating game of hide-and-go-seek with the sun and then totally covered it for most parts of the time.

That made the sighting for the eclipse, which already was limited, totally and frustrating affair. As if to add salt to the wound, it began to drizzle a little towards the end of the sighting time and we had to pack up all our equipment which stood forlornly all this while. There were some shots taken by my friends who joined in the eclipse party but mostly with their digicam that pointed to the skies with the sun hidden or shining through the darn clouds.

We soothe our frustrations by heading down to the PUB Club, where one of our parishioner is a member there, and some tea and snacks. *sigh*

Partial Eclipse of the Sun in Singapore Skies!

2010-01-15T09:48:00.001+08:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Saw the papers this morning after coming back from breakfast and read about the partial eclipse of the Sun happening this afternoon between 3.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. This eclipse will be visible from the Singapore skies, provided there is no rain.

So, I shall be setting up some equipment, including my trusty Nikon D80 to grab some shots of the event. When it is ready, I should be posting some pics here and also on my flickr pages. Till then, have a good day ahead!...

Starting Again...

2010-01-13T12:03:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

My, my, it has been quite a while hasn't it?.....

Blame it on laziness and my new and unexpected posting to the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary over at Serangoon area since my return to Singapore. My previous entry stated and provided the scheme of events that spoke of my return to the island state and now it has been a little over 6 months already since my eventual safe return. Having updated my other blog since then, I figured it is also time I do something here before it gets lost in the black hole! :-D

There have been several forays into the night sky with my telescopes that I have managed to get back into my possession since my return. That included the Bresser and the Celestron C8 which are now functional and raring to go. I have used them, so far, to check out the Moon and several planets like Jupiter and Saturn. My recent major outing was with the youth people from the YC ministry of the parish together with Joo Beng, my astronomy supplier and distributor, over at the back carpark of the parish.

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

Joo Beng was a great help to reacquaint me to my equipment and astrophotography issues which I had started going into that night, with my Nikon D80 attached to the C8. The result was a pretty decent set of pictures of the Orion Nebula as can be seen here.

I plan to do a little bit more astrophotography sessions, along with star gazing with people around the parish who are interested. So, here's to a fascinating astronomical year 2010 ahead! :-)

Space After 40 Years...

2009-07-21T12:33:00.006+08:00

Much have happened since the last time I blogged anything here..

The first eventful one was definitely my coming back to Singapore after a 2 year stay in Rome for studies there. It was a happy and sweet return to a place where I don't feel like some sort of a 'pariah'.

Secondly, I have my trusted Bresser safely shipped back and now have become a part of my astronomy collection together with my Celestron SCT. The Bresser now only needs to be unpack to get its first light soon. The weather now isn't too helpful or encouraging for any star-gazing for the moment.

Thirdly, there are two events worth remembering, one yesterday and another to be experienced tomorrow. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the 1st Moon landing by US astronauts Neil Armstrong and the crew of Apollo 11. It has been that long since man first stepped foot on the Moon. He hasn't since... Meanwhile, talks and discussions have been underway between NASA and the President taking the space program into the next step - Mars! What the future holds for space and humanity remains to be worked out and the possibilities are certainly limitless.

Next, we would be having a total solar eclipse on the 22nd July, i.e. tomorrow! It will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati. A partial eclipse, instead, will be seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including most of South East Asia (all of India and China) and north-eastern Oceania.

It will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

So, those of us in Singapore and Malaysia will get to see a little of the action that is scheduled around 8.35 a.m. on 22nd July 2009.

Meantime, have a good week ahead and, remember, look up! ;-)

Mars, Mars....

2009-06-05T06:03:00.004+08:00

*sigh*

Here we go again... the return of the Mars hoax during this time of the year. Your email is going to be clogged up with the report of this 'phenomenon'.

My 2 cents worth of advice: trash it! :-)

Good Cosmic Advice

2009-05-30T06:06:00.003+08:00

I shall soon have to end my studies here in Rome soon and will be doing a class presentation to my professors on a topic to be chosen later. Whatever that may be, I believe this valuable advice of Tijana Prodanovic from Cosmic Diary would be a good starting point...

Curiosity

2009-05-28T03:42:00.005+08:00

Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, 'Why is the sky blue?', 'Why do the stars twinkle?', 'Why am I me?', and I still do. I had so many questions, and America is the place where I want to find my answers. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much.

That is the short and winning essay of a Clara Ma, winner of the Mars Science Laboratory naming contest. She is 12 years old and looks like a budding astronomer in the making. Way to go, Clara! The Mars Science Laboratory is the next probe to be sent to Mars by NASA. It will do will do much broader science than any other spacecraft ever sent to the Red Planet.

Ascension Eve Stargazing

2009-05-25T00:21:00.005+08:00

Last night, Saturday (eve of Ascension as we celebrated this on Sunday), I had the opportunity to open the scope again for a night-out of star gazing fun.

A friend from the English College, Fr Chris, came by for dinner (which we cooked in our kitchen at the basement) and later stayed on for about an hour and a half to catch a look at some stars, constellations and the planet Saturn. The more prominent constellations that were around that night were the Big Dipper (Chris who is from Britain calls it the 'Plough'), Leo and Lyra. But it was Saturn that captured our attention with her edged-on rings.

We, pretty much, covered a large swath of the sky as we turn our scopes in most of the directions of the compass to see those items.

(pic - Fr Paul Ranee on the left, with Fr Chris on the binocs and Fr Isaac with the scope)

Hubble

2009-05-18T17:30:00.005+08:00

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has been serving the science and astronomy scene for a long while already since 1990. That is 19 years of space telescoping and viewing that gave us stunning pictures of the Universe never before seen.

Now it is undergoing a series of repairs by the Shuttle crew of Atlantis, the fourth set of repairs since the telescope was launched. The pictures of the servicing going on itself is a sight to behold. he report and pictures of the current repairs can be seen here!

Here's to many more awesome HST pictures in the years ahead!

Not Sure If I Want to be Around When it Happens!

2009-05-04T00:01:00.001+08:00

Meanwhile...

I don't know if I can ever live that long to witness that potential catastrophe if the asteroid do hit...

It's Tranquility!...

2009-05-03T23:32:00.003+08:00

Something strange happened along the way in NASA's effort to name its new ISS wing - it almost had to name it after a TV comedian! This is old news already but still a needed update for this blog. After votes came in for the name of the new section of ISS, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert got its name 'Colbert' voted the most in the online vote over at NASA's site. Apparently, fans of Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert stuffed the virtual ballot box with 230,539 write-in votes, overriding the four official choices NASA offered. How surreal can it get! :-D

I had earlier voted for Serenity. NASA however had a trump card and had reserved the right to override any result that it deemed unsuitable. In the end the new ISS section was finally named 'Tranquility' in honor of Apollo 11’s moon-landing site. As for Colbert, well... it had his name used as an exercise machine aboard the ISS. It is called the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.).

So, in a new room in the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts are going to walk all over him (figuratively speaking). The newly christened piece of exercise equipment will be sent up to space in August 2009, and Colbert will be invited to the launch. Even more surreal! :-D

The Stars and Serenity!

2009-03-06T00:05:00.006+08:00

Telescopes at USD$15.00 a piece! Honest to goodness one too! No bruffing one! See here. Can be a wonderful gift and introduction to astronomy for the kids and those starting out on this hobby!

I am also a fan of the Firefly tv series which ran only for 14 episodes before it was cancelled. But I was already hooked to the universe and characters which this sci-fi series encompassed, after watching all the episodes online last year. I also caught the movie from this series which was called Serenity and was bowled over, once again, by its action, drama and pathos that had made the tv series so special. Now NASA is having a contest to name their 3rd node of the International Space Station. One of the candidates for the names there is Serenity! So far it is in the lead! If you are interested, go here and put some use to your surfing and vote in for Serenity! :-)

(flickr pic from sandrino)

In Awe of Lulin!

2009-02-24T11:24:00.004+08:00

I couldn't resist the opportunity to stay up a little late this evening, past my usual bedtime, to get a glimpse of the Comet Lulin on Slooh. This time, they had a series of observation on it and I had a field day capturing many shots of the comet to form a slideshow presented here. All in all, I stayed up way past 4.00 a.m.! However, it was all worth it :-)

It is a thing of wonder and awe!

Lulin!

2009-02-22T00:13:00.006+08:00

Comet Lulin (such a Chinese sounding name!) has been making the astronomy news lately and causing much notice among astronomers. I happened to got on to Slooh and found out that one of their other scope in Chile has come operational and quickly got in to catch up on the sights that were available that night.

It was providential that I was able to get in when the scope was tracking this Lulin comet and I had to get a shot. So, check that green space wanderer below:

(click on picture to see a bigger version)

The Slooh blog gives better details on what this Lulin is all about and also updated another entry here. Should you compare that picture there with mine here, you would also notice a small asteroid along its trail (follow a straight diagonal line, about 30 degrees, upwards from the Comet and you will hit that spot!). That asteroid is 29 Aphitrite.

Interesting night online with a scope thousands of miles away (Chile) looking at an object even farther into the Solar System!

update (22 Feb 2009): more on Lulin here at the NASA site.

Humility of Science

2009-02-17T16:53:00.003+08:00

Every once in a while, you would come across an item that intrigues and captures your imagination which pushes you into a direction of thinking that strikes a deep note within the recesses of your soul.

In this instance, it is the case for science and astronomy that continues to ask honest and solid questions without going into the polemics of 'faith vs reason' or the 'absurdity of religion.' It simply wants an honest view of what our universe is really saying about ourselves and seeks this answer out that, while using all the available sciences and technology of today to probe the mysteries, also knows and humbly acknowledges its limits. The video below is a wonderful lesson in coming to that honest understanding of the universe and engaging it in manner that the ordinary person can enjoy without having to wade into any rhetoric or arguments for or against one's current beliefs - unless of course, you believe that you already possess the very monopoly of all the facts and truths to the meaning of life and the universe....

Then again, Dr deGrasse Tyson rightly pointed out that as the area of your knowledge grows, so too does your perimeter of ignorance. That is so human - and a humble one at that!...

Return of the Ring...

2009-02-13T23:15:00.005+08:00

It was still a little cold outside when I brought out the Bresser for a night out to catch the heavens last night around 9.00 pm. This was a while after the last round several weeks ago, before the exams started.

The object of attention last night, was to get the planet Saturn in sight. The wintery skies that we have now offered the usual scene of Orion, Cassopiea, the Big Dipper and the North star, could all be seen with the naked eye. Nonetheless, the Bresser continues to pose a reverential moment everytime one looks through the eyepiece of the scope and pierce through the heavens to reveal a closer view of what is out there, especially the eerie and magnificent Orion Nebula that continued to haunt the night sky during this season.

But the return of Saturn and the opportunity to get in in the sights of the scope and admire the magnificent rings is too great to ignore, when the night sky was clear and seeing was good like last night. Since I already had more than enough time on my hands and I was itching to see Saturn, setting up the scope then wasn't much of a debate.

I wasn't disappointed. Using different magnification, I saw the great ringed planet in different settings and placement upon a dark canvas of the sky. There were a few other people that happened to pass by the verandah where I was and when invited to look through the scope, their shouts of amazement was enough in justifying bringing out the scope in that cold night.

I had spent about one and a half hours of star gazing last night and I managed to stay that long too because I wanted to watch the Moon rise and caught a few moments of its cratered surface before I packed up and head back into the warmth of my room and a cup of hot tea!

The Heavens...

2009-01-12T05:12:00.005+08:00

After months of obs inactivity, I finally lugged out my Bresser into the night air, and placed along the Collegio's balcony near my block and pointed it into the clear night sky and heavenwards.

It was full moon tonight so the skies were awashed with the light that was reflected off from it. Still, I managed to put the scope through its paces and caught the following in my sights:

a. Betelgeuse
b. Sirius
c. Orion Nebula
d. Pleiades
e. Moon

I had spent some time outside in the cold with some extra warm clothing, gloves and a headgear. While I was ob'ing with the scope, several other priests passed by, now and then, and I showed them the Moon, Betelgeuse, Sirius and Pleiades. The expression on their faces and the exclamation that came from their mouths were more than enough to make my night. All were simply blown away by the sight of the stars and the Moon which they haven't seen in this close a view before.

I took some time on my own to watch the orange Betelgeuse and bright, bluish Sirius as they moved across the scope's view on high magnification. With Sirius glowing and shining brightly and moving across my view as I gazed through the lense, I can't help but felt that I was like the wise men seeing that 'Christmas' star moving across the sky. Similarly, Betelgeuse's orange star moving across the scope's view was another fascinating sight to behold.

Catching the Nebula wasn't too hard but it required some slight adjustment to watch it. I would not gaze at it directly but just look off-centered to get the faintish white glow of the nebula. Looking directly at it would diminish the glow and the light from the Moon would render the view ineffective. Pleiades was another great sight to catch, with the group of stars positioned together in a configuration that made it look like one is gazing into a jewel box! I did try to find the Andromeda Galaxy along the north-eastern limb of the sky but it was too faint to catch it and the light from the Moon did not make matters any better.

However, for what it was worth, tonight's scope session was a good outing in gazing into the beauty of the heavens that speaks about the wonders of God...

Have Fun with Astronomy!

2009-01-10T18:55:00.005+08:00

The celebration for the year of Astronomy has already began with the New Year setting in and heralding a boost for all things astronomy. There is a great piece of article from my own favourite astro magazine, Sky and Telescope, which reflects on how the Year of Astronomy can be a significant period to help people get interested and learn the wonders of space and the Universe.

The best part of this activity was pointed out here and I totally agree! It also give much profound acknowledgement to the purpose and beauty of our sense of sight that gazes into 'eternity'. Our pair of eyes besides being the 'windows to our souls' can also be the very ones that can help us "learn about the most amazing things in existence."

The fun part about the IYA program, when it officially begins on 15th January 2009, is that it offers participants in an IYA event to take home an easy-to-assemble and easy-to-use telescope for free! That is the ideal plan, so it still leaves to see how this will be done. Nonetheless, that a free telescope, which matches the similar one which Galileo first used to see the surface of the Moon, is given, sure sounds pretty cool by my standards! A child getting that for the first time ought to open his/her eyes to the great amazement that is 'out there'!

Meanwhile, a wonderful activity with specially prepared observation worksheets from this Japanese participating IYA site has already done the work in making any night observations with those free scopes or one's own home telescope a cinche to undertake! Fun, too!

Which reminds me to break my lethargy, brave the cold and start using the Bresser scope!...

Christmas Tree and IYA2009

2009-01-04T23:43:00.003+08:00

After a very long hiatus, I am back! Blame it on winter and the lack of observations due to the cold and also the lethargy and other activities that came along with the current Christmas hols.

It is the new year of 2009 and this year designates the year where astronomy begins to take centrestage. It is the International Year of Astronomy that wants to promote astronomy and get people to be better aware of the Universe. They have their website here.

I know what I shall be doing once I returned to Singapore during the middle of the year. Here is to some star gazing parties with some friends and astronomy enthusiasts within the compounds of the seminary. Along the way, perhaps some vocations can be collected as we talked about the wonders of the heavens and our place in it...

Meanwhile, here's a little left over from Christmas with this amazing Christmas Tree cluster within the Monoceros constellation (shown above).

Smiley

2008-12-03T01:15:00.005+08:00

I missed the fascinating tri-event of the Jupiter, Venus and Moon show in the late evening sky that, over the Southern Hemisphere would look a smiley! Here's one taken by someone over at Perth!

Meanwhile, it has been zero opportunity, zero, really to use my scope for any decent stargazing the past months. The weather has been horribly rainy and the skies clouded for most of the night. :-P I have been wanting to grab that tri-event in the sky over this few days and it is still impossible. I just checked the weather outside and it's, yup you guessed it, raining!...

It's a wet blanket day!

Winter's 'Ol Friend

2008-11-15T19:55:00.007+08:00

Winter is making its way back and making star gazing and nights out with the telescope much more challenging and difficult because of the cold... brrr!

So, it is a good turn of providence that I could use the facilities of SLOOH to pierce through the cold nigh sky and get some amazing shots of an old friend that comes by during this time of the year: Orion Nebula. This is situated within the belt of the constellation Orion, The Hunter. I have already grabbed a cool image of the Nebula from my earlier imaging device with the then Celestron C80ED scope one warm night at the carpark of the Holy Family parish, several years ago.

But this one from SLOOH is, by far, a much grander picture and a real feast for the eyes! I managed to use the high magification of the SLOOH scopes and gotten the wondrous image as given above. What a sight for sore eyes! Here, you can see a much better picture of the Nebula that is a remendous complex of gas, dust and stellar nurseries. This Nebula is also known as M42 on the Messier chart.

SLOOH Nebulae

2008-11-07T06:43:00.008+08:00

I have been very slow with my entries here and with good reasons too.The weather has gotten cold and the nights aren't always cooperative enough to allow for some clear gazing into the night sky. It has been rainy, wet and cold the past week and I have been lulled into a good state of laziness and lethargy whenever night fell. :-P

So, to make up for my recent lapses, here are a few shots taken from my sessions over at SLOOH this evening, after a long break.

This is the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405). It is a diffuse nebula in Auriga that mainly surrounds the star AE Aurigae and gives the impression that the star is burning, hence, its name. AE Aurigae is one of the runaway stars whose proper motion can be traced back to the area of the Orion's Belt.

Next is the California Nebula. This large, faint emission nebula, discovered in 1845 by E.E. Barnard, is likely ionized by one of the very stars born from within its midst, Xi Persei. In wide-field, another bright star, Zeta Persei, can be seen just beneath the nebula.

A quiet night on site with the SLOOH scopes do help to get away from the cold as one views the universe from the comforts of a warm room!

NEO HW1 1996

2008-09-13T08:14:00.004+08:00

Stayed up with the people at SLOOH and tracked a near earth asteroid HW1 1996 as it passed by the vicinity of the Earth and carried on its way into space.

Using the SLOOH scope I took some pics of it and did up a movie slide to show the motion of this asteroid as it went by. Awesome!...

The Eagle With the Lagoon!

2008-09-05T05:28:00.006+08:00

I recently got the SLOOH scope in the Canary Islands to take this marvellous shot of the Eagle Nebula that shows the pillars of cosmic dust and clouds which have been famously nicknamed 'Pillars of Hercules' amongst the astronomy circle!

Then there is the grand scenery of another nebula that totally blows the mind away with the gaseous display of colour and dust which only a SLOOH scope can do. It's the Lagoon together with the Trifid a little above it. A close view of the Lagoon Nebula shows the glorious and spectacular gas cloud display of cosmic proportion!

I have been wanting to use a scope, any scope to grab a picture like that for years already since I started on this hobby and now I could. That's providence for you! OK, OK, so it isn't from a scope of my own nor was the action a full physical exercise that was directly under my control. But, I ain't complaining!... :-D

SLOOH Dome

2008-09-03T20:19:00.005+08:00

I have mentioned quite a while already about the SLOOH scopes and how it has opened up newer possibilities and horizon for my astronomy hobbies. However, I never did show you all the place where all this took place. So, here's a cam-captured view of the dome where the SLOOH scopes are stationed in the Canary Islands.

You can go to their main website and check them out to see what they have! You may even want to join in the fun with the rest of the SLOOH community...

What You Didn't Know About Telescopes

2008-08-29T16:03:00.003+08:00

Here's something you probably didn't know about telescopes....

Allow Discover Magazine to enlightened you!

mySLOOH

2008-08-23T17:23:00.002+08:00

After some weeks of trial and waiting, I finally have my own SLOOH picture gallery to show, after some setting up. These galleries showcase my attempts at astrophotography and all other pictures taken using the SLOOH scopes.

It has been quite a fascinating ride with that online telescope which I use remotely through the miracles of modern science! ;-)

The Trifid

2008-08-19T17:59:00.006+08:00

I had another round with the SLOOH scope last night and wasn't disappointed. I managed to use the scope to capture some deep sky objects and here's one of them.

I have been wanting to get this since I had my own scope but not possible till now, because of timing and poor sky conditions then. The current setup I have back in Singapore didn't give me the boost to grab this shot as SLOOH did from the Canaries. So, the Trifid shot, for now, will have to be claimed with honors from the SLOOH scope. The Trifid Nebula Messier 20 (M20, NGC 6514) in Sagittarius is a remarkable and beautiful object as it consists of both a conspicuous emission nebula and a remarkable reflection nebula component.

The energetic processes of star formation within this nebula create not only the colors but the chaos. The red-glowing gas results from high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas. The dark dust filaments that lace M20 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. The light from M20 we see today left perhaps 3000 years ago, although the exact distance remains unknown. Light takes about 50 years to cross M20. More shots of deep sky objects over at my flickr page :-)

Meanwhile one of my lunar eclipse picture was given mentioned on the SLOOH blog!

August Lunar Eclipse 2008 #2

2008-08-17T08:37:00.005+08:00

I had a fun time getting shots of the lunar eclipse as it happened. The night was clear and not too hot with a slight breeze to cool down the night a little. It was a grand sight to see how the Moon gradually came under the Earth's shadow and grew dim a little while, with its reddish glow as it was partially covered. Below is animation of the Moon's eclipse from the series of photographs taken:

I also got into the SLOOH telescope and had a piece of action there using their scope to grab some shots of the Moon and a closeup of the surface. All in all, a good night's worth of fun in being a little 'lunatic'! :-D

August Lunar Eclipse 2008

2008-08-17T02:16:00.004+08:00

Tonight is the lunar eclipse in the night sky and the last one for 2008.

I shall be covering this event from the Convitto using cameras and the Internet to report in this fascinating moment when the Moon gets covered by the Earth's shadow. This event can be viewed through most of the Asian continent and also in Europe. The best part is that I get to watch it when the Moon is rising and can follow it throughout its eclipse.

I shall be using the SLOOH scopes too when they go operational around 10.45 p.m. onwards. From SLOOH I would be able to get a greater close-up shots of the Moon's surface as it gets eclipsed. That should be a sight to see!

I just hope the clouds doesn't come in to spoil the night!

Another hour or so before the fascinating show begins...

SLOOH

2008-08-14T21:57:00.006+08:00

I chanced upon this site last night while surfing for astronomy news and I fell totally head-over-heels in love with it!

I joined as a member and began using the telescope, through the online remote control that gets me to see some awesome nebulas, galaxies and other related greatness, over at the Canary Islands. How cool can that get! :-D It's like owning a giant telescope of your own, only it's a thousand of kilometers away. I can get to book usage time for my own mission viewing and that is set for Sunday 17th August, early morning after midnight.

While getting use to and fiddling around with the newly found gadget throught the website, I followed the main missions schedule and their observations from there. I took some great shots of several nebulas and galaxies which I normally could not with my own scope as I lack the necessary accessories. One of the pictures taken, i.e. of the Cocoon Nebula, is shown above.

So, yay for SLOOH and what I can't do with my scope on the ground where I am, I can complement that with their observatories there! Awesome!...

Perseids a.k.a. Sky Guy #5

2008-08-12T23:44:00.006+08:00

Tonight/dawn and tomorrow's will have a good show above the skies as our Earth passes the space belt where it will meet with the remnants of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. This will result in the Perseids meteor shower during the late nights and pre-dawn of 12 & 13 August.

Because these meteors streak out from the constellation Perseus, they were given that name. The constellation just happened to be in the background as we look up at the sky and not because it is the cause of these meteors. From where I am at the Convitto and up north from the Equator, I should be able to catch some brilliant light show later - if I am able to stay up late without falling asleep! :-D

Those who are on the equator or on the Southern Hemisphere would not have the luxury of catching the Perseids but, it's OK, you have other options as given here. Sky Guy, as usual, has a wonderful presentation on the Perseids:

Even if you cannot catch the Perseids, do get a hold of other meteor showers from the list mentioned above and share the wonders of the night sky with your family! Oh, I also managed to catch the Perseids last year, too... ;-)

Here Comes the Sun! Or Is It Going Away?...

2008-07-31T22:48:00.005+08:00

The sun goes away for a while during the day of 1st August 2008!

But only people along the northern Canadian areas and the South Asian regions like China and India get to have front seat view of the grand eclipse. :-P Those in ASEAN regions, namely you lot in Singapore and Malaysia, at best it is a partial eclipse...

Myself in Europe, I don't get the full effect but perhaps around 20% of it or less.So, I am not holding my breath! Still, even if you can't watch the eclipse, there is still another chance to watch it - online. Here's one!

Whatever you do to watch, just remember it's never safe to look directly at the Sun's dazzling surface — no matter how little of it remains uncovered! See here how to do it correctly. :-) Have a good 'sun' day!

(the view of the partially eclipsed Sun was made by Sky & Telescope associate editor Edwin Aguirre. Metal-coated glass solar filters produce a yellow or orange image of the Sun, while most aluminized Mylar filters give a blue image)

50

2008-07-30T17:57:00.000+08:00

NASA turns 50 already!

Sky Guy #4

2008-07-25T04:47:00.004+08:00

Here's another interesting video piece from sky guy on shooting stars and comets:

After this you won't be looking at the night skies the same way again! ;-)

Moon Transiting Earth!

2008-07-18T14:47:00.004+08:00

I was watching the moon again last night , but only briefly. It had already gone on to its full and brightest spot in the night sky. A casual glance at the brightly lit surface will show the distinctive Tycho crater down southwest of the Moon. This crater has a ray-like system emanating from it, forming long spokes that reach as long as 1,500km.

Speaking of the Moon, NASA's EXPOXI mission has created a video of the moon transiting (passing in front of) Earth as seen from the spacecraft's point of view 50 million kilometers (31 million miles) away.

EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: a search for alien (extrasolar) planets during the cruise to Hartley 2, called Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI).

Scientists are using the video to develop techniques to study alien worlds. "Making a video of Earth from so far away helps the search for other life-bearing planets in the Universe by giving insights into how a distant, Earth-like alien world would appear to us," said astronomer Michael A’Hearn, principal investigator for EPOXI.

Interesting Nights

2008-07-17T17:23:00.006+08:00

The Moon never looked so good from where I am hibernating now over at the Convitto! The summer hols are slow and easy days with too much time on my hands. But, most of that are being used up now for the purpose of doing my thesis. Nonetheless, that doesn't stop me from using my slightly faulty binoculars to pierce the night sky and even the sights around the Convitto. :-)

The binocs are faulty because the alignment inside, with the prism and lens, is off. Unfortunately no one here, myself included, is able to rectify the misalignment. So, I have to bear with the double vision problem. The alternative now, and which is what is done mostly, is to see through one of the lens....

Last night, after shifting some stuff to my reallocated room (yes, I had to shift to another room!), I placed the binocs near the window which now overlooks the via Ibernesi and also the sky. To my delight, I managed to see the bright Jupiter together with her 3 moons which were pinpricks of light that were on both sides of the planet (two on its left and one on the right)! Amazing!

Equally breathtaking was our own Moon last night, which is waxing to its full as the days go by. So, with my newly allocated sleeping quarters and a window to the night sky available, I should be having some interesting nights ahead...

(click on the pic to get a bigger view of it)

Sky Guy #3

2008-07-14T03:27:00.010+08:00

OK, here's the third instalment of that easy-going and informative program on space and astronomy, hosted by sky guy.

Now, I have been told that I am hopeless at counting and can never count beyond 3. But in this episode, we have the actual motion of someone attempting to count a pile of sand which, from the beginning already seem a rather impossible task! Nonetheless, count he did...

So, next time you look up at the skies, just note that that's not all the stars that you are seeing shining up there!

Sky Guy #2

2008-07-11T22:01:00.003+08:00

I am mostly loss for words an explanation concerning the the details and nity gritty stuff about things astronomy because I don't involve myself too much in them as I should. Usually the interest lies with just getting the scope out into the open and trained to the skies to view the stellar wonders there. When queried about the specific matters about the whats, hows and whys, well, sometimes it is a big mystery to me! ;-)

So, it is always a gem to get good videos such as this second instalment from skyguy to clear the matter up a bit. It's still hot and summer here and a good time to brush up on some astronomy knowledge...

Skyguy #1

2008-07-11T06:22:00.008+08:00

It's the summer break and I am not at the Collegio during this period as I am now residing temporary at the Convitto which is also alongside the Angelicum University. Check out my main blog to see what really is going on... ;-)

As such I am unable to make full use of the Bresser since I have already packed that up into its boxes and relegated them to storage in the basement of the Collegio. In the Convitto, I only managed to bring along the binocs and my Nikon camera along with my other essentials. So, night observations and related starg gazing would be rather minimal, if at all, for the moment. :-P

However, it is a great opportunity to allow ourselves a pleasant detour from my ramblings to another contributor who can enlighten us on the wonders of the universe. So, for this coming summer season, here's SkyGuy and his helpful episodes on stars, the heavenly bodies and all things 'out of this world'! This is the first in the series of many to come... ;-)

Bresser and Water

2008-06-21T05:24:00.003+08:00

The exams are over and it is the best time also to brave the night out by taking the Bresser scope and point to the heavens, since the warmth of summer makes its presence known.

The night was undoubtedly a little warmer than known nights of the past months. But the skies were clear and no traces of any clouds came by to spoil the viewing. The brother of Fr Nicholas and a friend, Andrew, both from Sabah came to the Collegio for a visit. Andrew in particular was interested in astronomy and had requested to see the scope and wonder if we could catch Saturn in the night sky.

So, our presence in the field, along the basketball court, was the order of the night on Friday after a good dinner cooked mostly by Fr Nicholas.

We weren't disappointed with our scope as Bresser came out tops in showing the ever majestic Saturn with the rings. From the standard lens magnification of 25mm right up to 10mm the planet did not lose its granduer! In all it was about an hour of gazing the heavens and enjoying Saturn's sight along with a short peek at Mars as the planets slowly descended over the horizon as the night progressed.

Speaking of Mars, news are coming out from the Phoenix mission control that after the past few days of digging, they managed to confirm somewhat the proof of water! But more tests and digging will be done to absolutely verify this. Here's the initial euphoria about the 'ice' and why they think it is...

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my holidays and, for now, getting a glass of water - it's a hot night! :-)

(more pics of Mars and the goings on of the probes there...)

Rarin' to Go!...

2008-05-30T06:07:00.002+08:00

Just a little update on the Phoenix probe on Mars as it unstowed its arm and is working to start digging the Martian soil soon!...

Space - The Final Frontier?...

2008-05-27T17:58:00.007+08:00

I haven't been gazing into eternity for quiet a while and I blame it on the weather and my study schedule for this particular semester. So, my Bresser has been having a very extended time-out in the comforts of my room.

There were a few obs along the way but nothing much to shout about. So, it has been a very lean period in star gazing and I was patiently waiting for the time for the weather to get a little warmer as the summer began to creep in. Now that it is getting more of a summer and less colder of what it was in winter, I am looking forward to more decent nights of eternity gazing to make up for the dearth of that for the past months.

Meanwhile, some amazing news of a recent development for science and space. The Phoenix Lander has finally gotten to its target at the polar north position of Mars after some 10 months of space travelling from our Earth. It landed safely and according to all of NASA's space mission control's expectation. This is certainly a boon to their effort as their earlier mission (some years earlier) was lost abruptly during landing procedures.

Now that it has landed safely on the north pole of Mars (*phew*), it has some good 3 months to gather all it can, the data, it was sent there to collect.

The landing.... check out NASA's description.

The first pictures... courtesy of Orbiting Frog and Universe Today.

The implications of this successful mission... a great human feat with proper use of science and technology, implications for underground life on Mars and human mission (!).

Space technology has come far since the early days of satellites and now it has shown that, given the right attitude and continued perseverance, the vision of what science can do for the future of humanity in bringing about the common good and making the world a better place for all may still be worth looking out for...

Collegio's Starry Nite... Sort Of

2008-03-15T17:58:00.003+08:00

After a long break from star gazing because of the cold and erratic weather during the winter months and moving onto spring, a group of us decided to take a different route to watching the skies,by going out to the Collegio's open field by the basketball court.

We had invited a friend from the St Peter's College, who eventually spend a night with us, to enjoy the evening of dinner and a chance to tap into the wondrous mysteries of the evening sky.

I set up the scope and the newly purchased (75 euros) 15x70mm binoculars for the night event and despite the clouds that came in a little later, we had a ball outside by the court! :-) We managed to see Saturn along the constellation Leo and saw the waxing moon with its shadowed craters and rills.

For Fr Wilbert who was seeing the moon in such close quarters, courtesy of the Bresser scope, his stunned expression on his face was really priceless!

Last night was certainly a good way to start off our Easter break!

(more pics here)

God's Valentine!

2008-02-15T05:15:00.005+08:00

I always knew that God has great sense of humour. I just didn't know know just how far or much he would go to great lengths to reveal that. But I think this one can take the prize!

This is a picture taken from the Mars (yes, Mars, the planet!) Global Surveyor's cameras, the space craft that circled the planet taking pictures and doing other significant scientific stuff to discover what the surface of Mars is all about before it expired in January 2007.

This picture shows a pit formed by collapse within a straight-walled trough known in geological terms as a graben.

This is God's way of telling us that if we look hard enough, we can begin to see traces of his love that speaks a cosmic language which really goes beyond the boundaries of our usual habitat and world!

I know this may be a little late, but what the heck... Happy Valentine's Day!

Sky Tour

2008-02-10T21:25:00.000+08:00

Guess what?

I managed to get out the Bresser and put tit hrough its paces for about an hour of the night yesterday, after some months lying around idly in my room! This time round I had some company along and had a great time getting ourselves acquainted with the late winter sky.

It was a little after 10pm (Sat, 9th Nov 2008) when Fr Nicholas Stephen (M'sia) dropped by and helped me carry out the grand scope into the night, and quite cold, air by the balcony landing of the Collegio that separated the eastern and western block. Fr Paul Ranee (Shillong) came by a little later. When all was set up, we scanned the skies that offered us Orion the Hunter where we proceeded to direct our attention towards its grand Orion Nebula.

After that it was a hop to the planet Saturn with her magnificent rings that never fail to take the breath away from any first time onlooker. Varying the magnification helped to see just how awesome that planet really looks, even through with a minor scope like the Bresser! Then it was off towards Mars with its red-orangey look that shone through the scope's optical lens. Pleiades was also high and prominent in the sky as she showed off her jewel box sparklies.

All in all, it was quite an enjoying night out, despite the cold that crept in later (this was essentially a little detour for myself to unload whatever anxieties that came from the exams currently going on). We left when our fingers became a little numb...

Mars and Collegio

2008-02-08T07:34:00.000+08:00

My mind decided to take a short break from studies and I went outside into the cool breezy night where I brought my Nikon along and took this shot just above the roof of the Collegio.

That's what Mars is from this view and beside it, to the right is the constellation Auriga. A little to the left is the star Betelgeuse which is part of the constellation Orion which is hidden from view as it heads downwards behind the building on the west.

Exams can do strange things to people. Me, I just take pictures of constellations! ;-)

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Saturn Blues and Twin Suns

2008-02-07T06:21:00.000+08:00

I went to check the skies just now, a little after 11.00pm, to see if I could get Saturn onto the Bresser's sight, but no go! The clouds came in earlier and blanketed the entire place... :-P So, I have to wait till the weekend. I have an exam on Friday and I am not sure if I would want to do any observing tomorrow night.

Well, I shall have to see my mood for tomorrow then...

Anyway, came across this interesting piece of writing that speculates on what Star Wars, Episode IV, has given to the audiences with that scene where Luke Skywalker walks out of his desert abode and we see the twin suns of Tatooine glowing in the evening sky. Whether twin suns like that is possible in real life or not, is the subject of this topic.

Orion and Collegio

2008-02-06T05:08:00.001+08:00

Orion and Collegio
Originally uploaded by Annoysius

Skies clear and the night a little cool, I decided to grab a quick picture of this while Orion is still brilliant and visible along the east-west route of the sky.

The scope is still on sabbatical.... :-P

The Hunter!

2008-01-27T06:05:00.000+08:00

The College celebrated its patron's feast day, St Paul, this evening with a Mass together with the prefect of the Propaganda Fidei, Cardinal Ivan Dias, followed by a dinner get-together.

It was after all that, when the celebration was over that I decided to see if I could take a shot of the night sky where Orion was residing as it made its way westward. I grab a Nikon DSLR camera (D80) and began takings several shots in the dark, playing around with the shutter speed and the aperture. I was trying to see which gave a better foucs and resolution to the picture and in the end I went for shutter speed.

After several tries in the cold outside the balcony that looked westward where Orion was at this time, I managed to snag a good one, as good as it can be, and labelled the important parts of the constellation and also a planet...

This is a small consolation from not being able to use to scope. It was still very cold outside to do any observing. :-P

Setting Moon

2008-01-24T03:51:00.000+08:00

It hasn't been fruitful lately with the usage of the scope for any star gazing. The cold and clouds outside literally put me off from engaging in any serious observations.

So, I was nicely surprised this morning at breakfast when I caught sight of the setting moon from the balcony of refectory. The sun hasn't come up fully yet but the moon's presence in the sky was still very prominent and full, not to mention, rather large. I quickly finished my morning meal and rushed to my room to grab the Nikon and went over to the other side the corridor where there is a room that overlooks into the field behind my block.

I set up the equipment and began to take two shots of the moon scenery and so, it is nicely plastered here. :-)

It's not much but it sort of make up for the lack of astronomical activity I have been undergoing lately...

Mercury In All Her Glory!

2008-01-16T15:22:00.000+08:00

Much abuzz is going on within the astronomical/scientific circle about the current Mercury fly-by of the MESSENGER ship to circle that planet and take pictures (among other things). And no wonder! Here's why...

It really is a great WOW!...

Touch the Invisible Sky

2008-01-16T05:33:00.000+08:00

It has been raining just every day this week and today was no exception. :-P The skies have been cloudy and scudding throughout and the nights cold and a little icy for any decent ob'ing. So the Bresser is still holing up in my room.

Meanwhile, an interesting question. How do you show to the blind the wonders and awesome greatness of space and the universe?

Here is one lady who did just that. It all began when Noreen was conducting a show in her planetarium and there were some blind children in the audience who couldn't (obviously) appreciate or enjoy the presentation due to that handicap. Later, she would create a book about astronomy for the blind. Called Touch the Universe, it had images from Hubble Space Telescope overlaid with vacuum-formed plastic sheets that created an actual 3D version of the image, so that blind people could feel what the object looked like. Now she has created her fifth book in the series, Touch the Invisible Sky. It has images from Hubble, the Spitzer (infrared) Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

What Noreen has done is nothing less than open the door on astronomy for an entire segment of the population that had been excluded. The look of the children's faces when they use the book and can actually feel the stripes on Jupiter says it all… it’s incredible!

Too Long a Break!...

2008-01-12T19:05:00.000+08:00

Aaargh! After so much slacking and dithering, I decided to put in an entry here and realised just how much I have been neglecting this for a while... :-P

However, the weather hasn't been too good for any observation and my Bresser has been standing dormant in my room. Before the winter season came in with full force and after the last entry before this, I did managed to put in a few ob sessions and captured Orion and its grand show around the constellation. I revisited the Orion Nebula and also viewed the waxing and waning Moon, together with the planet Mars that was prominent that time. Boosting the view to a moderate 120x using the 2x barlow and a 10mm lens, Mars was just nicely discernible under its reddish-orange glow in the nightsky.

When winter came along, all possible ob was put to a stop as it was utterly cold outside and I am not use to going out in this weather, especially at night when the temperature really drops, even with the warmest of clothing. So, for most of the time, the Bresser has been standing in the quiet by my clothes cupboard and waiting patiently for the next outing...

Meanwhile, just to put a little enthusiasm here, I thought this shot could do with some ogling. We speak much about black holes but never really catch one in action, until recent years back. Black holes exists and we have an active one within the center of our Milky Way galaxy! This one shows a dramatic new Chandra image of the nearby galaxy Centaurus A that contains a supermassive black hole actively powering a jet! The image was made from an ultra-deep look at the galaxy, equivalent to more than seven days of continuous observations! Go to the Chandra website for more information. But it suffices to see in this image just what greatness and awesomeness the universe is and how acutely small we all are...

Inspired...

2007-11-29T18:13:00.000+08:00

The Bresser has been lying around with nothing much to point at recently. That's because of the cold weather outside and my fatigue during the weekdays when I come back from classes after 7.00p.m.

Still, I always look for signs of hope that I can be inspired to take the refractor out for a spin or two just to reacquaint with the wonders of the night skies that offers a free and gifted view of the universe.

I may just take a shot tonight after I return from class to check out again the constellation Perseus and see how Holmes is getting along. I feel I ought to make full use of this opportunity after I read this piece from Universe Today.

I just hope I don't chicken out from the cold and fatiguedness again... :-D

The Stars Are Outside...

2007-11-22T17:25:00.000+08:00

Had a go looking at the half moon last Saturday evening. Caught the attention of a few brother priests here as they saw me by the landing gazing into the evening sky that day. I let them have a look through the Bresser and they were amazed by the magnification and 'nearness' of the Moon's presence. :-D

I have come to accept this 'outburst' of surprised and wonderment as part and parcel of someone encountering the heavenly bodies of this nature for the first time. But the cold of the evening as the weather heads closer towards winter can be a damper to any enthusiasm for a longer observing session outside.

So, my activities lately has been quite a touch-and-go. :-P I still want to get another look at Comet Holmes before it disappears and grab a picture of the Moon with a camera. I have managed to install and reconfigured my scope camera which I purchased earlier. So, hopefully I can test it out this weekend.

Meanwhile, here are some interesting news item for today to while a slow evening away:

Hobbit Solar System!
5 Things You Didn't Know Satellites Are Doing
Hubble's View of Comet Holmes
Earth In HD
Swimmng A Salty Sea

the stars are out there! keep watching and clear skies!

17P

2007-11-03T05:43:00.000+08:00

I finally pluck up courage and took my Bresser scope for a spin and I wasn't disappointed!

The past weeks, there were news about Comet Holmes (17P) which seemed to have gone up in a giant blast that allowed its brilliance to shoot up more than a million times, which could be seen along the constellation Perseus along the northeastern sky. This piece of 'flying rock' is making its rounds within the vicinity of Jupiter and Mars. Since its 'explosion' its magnitude is so bright that it can be made out with the naked eye. The binoculars would also be able to put it on its sight easily.

But when using a telescope and especially with a big aperture, the glory of Holmes can be fully appreciated. What happened was that the comet's tiny, solid nucleus puffed out a huge cloud of dust, and the dust is being lit by sunlight. Day by day the cloud spread out wider, so that by last weekend the “star” was starting to look like a tiny, round disk. Since then the disk has been getting a bit wider every night, as the dust spreads. Its overall brightness has not changed.

That was what I saw this night through my 152mm (6 inch) Bresser! Despite the cold, with the excitement of having joined in the opportunity with other people who have seen this comet elsewhere in the world and coupled with my layers of warm clothing, I managed to stay out in the balcony of the College and watched that amazing scene till my hearts content! :-)

I wanted to grab a picture of it through the HPr707 digicam but it wasn't possible. Instead, I just borrowed the picture here taken by Gregory J. Strike (Kaukana, Wisconsin, USA) with his 8" f/6 Dobsonian on Canon Rebel XT camera.

Wait....

2007-10-14T20:12:00.000+08:00

There hasn't been any chance yet to take out my scope and scan the heavens as the nights have been rather cold and I am now having a slight flu, too! :-P

So, the Bresser is once again sitting forlornly in my room and wondering together with me, when we can grab that piece of nightsky action. For some evenings already, while I was taking an after-dinner stroll, I saw, during those clear days, beautiful array of stars and their constellations which would certainly look great with the Bresser!

Once when I got up and went for the morning mass which was about to start at around 6.45 a.m. I happened to look through one of the windows along the hallway and gazed upon the Orion constellation which was displayed in full in the sky. I stopped short a while and look at it to appreciate the moment... :-)

For now, it's a waiting game and I hope to get a good opportunity to take the Bresser out before winter sets in!

TMB

2007-09-25T03:44:00.000+08:00

I am back in Rome now and at the College's premises. Tonight (just before 10.00 p.m.) while browsing through the astronomy websites, I chanced upon this little eulogy piece on Thomas M Back who passed away recently on September 13th.

He was the creator of his own line of telescopes and optics (TMB Optics) that revolutionized the amateur astronomy field. All that was because of his passion to get as close as possible to God's creation and universe. Yes, in the interview for the Cloudy Night website, done on November 2006, Tom said, "Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe."

I couldn't agree with him more and I know that he is with God, enjoying the wondrous view which he couldn't always get them from down here! Enjoy the front seat view, Tom!

Above Cesi!

2007-09-16T18:12:00.001+08:00

Some three nights ago, myself and Richard took the car we rented and headed out to the hills above this little medieval town of Cesi, in the general direction of the site where the Cesi Observatory is suppose to be.

We went up the hill and it seemed forever as we keep going up, up and up. But the observatory was not in sight and the road was getting narrower and darker and there weren't any lights around, except for the city light way, waaay below us! :-P

We finally decided we have gone up far enough and headed down towards a clearing which we had passed earlier. We set up our campsite there awhile and pointed the Bresser M-152 heavenward. We weren't disappointed! Even with our naked eyes, we managed to catch the glorious view of the Milky Way as it snaked its way through in the east-west direction of the sky!

The best part of the night was that I finally got to see the Andromeda Galaxy! It was a bright wispy white disc through the 25mm eyepiece and a little more grander through the barlow 2x. :-D I have been trying to catch that elusive object for the past year... Besides that, I caught another Messier, namely M13 within the Hercules constellation. Great stuff!

After about one and half hours of star gazing we headed down the hills feeling satisfied with a good night's session 'in the dark'. Funny thing was that I kept hearing people talking and laughing in a distance. I thought they were noises being carried from below the city. But when we drove downwards later, I saw another car not too far from where we were stationed earlier. We didn't stop to find out or ask if the couple in the car needing any assistance... ;-)

It was a good adventure in the night!

Afternoon Delight

2007-09-09T20:30:00.000+08:00

The past weeks were rather bad for gazing the skies, especially in the night. This was because the nights were very cold as the temperature dropped suddenly to around 8 - 10 degrees. Even my room felt rather chilly that I had to close the windows shut! For some days before today, it was cloudy and there were some rains too. All very cold and wet!

The Bresser scope meanwhile stood forlornly by the window as it contemplates what it could do while waiting for the climate to reach a suitable environment for watching. So, today, when the sun came back and warmed the day a little, I decided to open up the scope and see through my bedroom window, the hills and the city in the distant.

As I continued to turn my scope upwards into the skies, I saw two parasailors slowly making their way gracefully downwards into the hills in the distance. I took a shot of it with the digicam through the scope's eyepiece. That's an afternoon delight for the Bresser after a while in the 'freezer'... :-D

(click the pic for a closer view)

Star Party - Terni Style!

2007-08-24T05:37:00.000+08:00

At first light, when the scope first open its lens towards the heavens, by the lawn downstairs behind the Villa, a group of us had already gathered there with curious looks and high anticipation as to what the scope will show. :-)

I showed my brother priests the sight of sister Moon and the fascinating view of Jupiter and her moons. They were clearly excited by the view of the heavenly bodies as they jostled to grab the position to see who goes first.

The Messier 152-S did not disappoint as it showed the skies in all her glory, especially with the Moon adorning it this evening. We also took the occasion to gaze over at the town centre a little further away into the hills and valley nearby.

If I had charged 2 Euros for each view, I would have a tidy sum this evening. But, the sky and God's creation are free and meant to be shared, so the scope took centre-stage as it entertained the viewers for this evening! :-D

Itch Scratched!

2007-08-23T05:38:00.000+08:00

The Bresser Messier 152mm scope arrived in good order this afternoon! The set came in two boxes - one for the scope and the other the mount. Along with those were the lenses, prism and viewfinder. So, after the afternoon class, I spend some time to set the equipment up and it looks very good! The first light experience when I first pointed the scope to the hills in the distance and the town center seen from the window of my room was excellent. :-)

Nonetheless, everything and the scope worked flawlessly! They provided 3 lenses (10mm, 15mm and 25mm), a 2x Barlow and a mini red flashlight. They are very generous! When the weather permits and when the skies are clear, I should be able to use this new member of the family to grab sight of sister Moon and the grand Jupiter and her moons.

The Little Voyage That Could

2007-08-22T01:29:00.000+08:00

A little news from the astronomy world sheds some interesting light as to the human endeavour in going to places where no one has gone before - Voyager 2's journey into the real outer space, with Voyager 1 following suit.

After 30 years since the day of their launches, those little space probes have since been sending information and pictures back to NASA that reveal many interesting facts previously unknown to scientists here back on Earth. A note here at Tom's that spells out the 10 greatest achievements of the Voyagers' contribution gives an idea as to the wonderful human achievement that went into making this project nothing sort of being legendary.

This still haven't considered the achievements that NASA had done with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Rovers' mission to Mars that are still ongoing. Amazing! It's just out of this world! (pardon the pun...).

Meanwhile, the e-mail says it all - my scope is on the way! Should be here in a day or two.

Showering With Perseus

2007-08-13T05:35:00.001+08:00

I first saw bright orange streak in the sky and rushed out to call Richard to look up into the skies for meteors.

That started the next hour and a half sitting outside the dining hall in mid-darkness and looking up into the northeastern sky where constellation Perseus is for the Perseid meteor showers. We were rewarded with a total of about 3 -4 meteors between the each of us and for that period in certainly was a grand and fascinating experience!

Today is also Richard's sacerdotal anniversary - his 12th, I think. :-D So, after dinner with red and white wine plus some ice-cream, the Perseids shower was a grand finale to cap an otherwise quiet and lazy Sunday. :-)

The Itch Had to be Scratched!

2007-08-06T04:03:00.000+08:00

It took awhile, but I finally took the plunge and bought another telescope! :-)

The astronomy itch didn't really go away with my stay here in Italy. In fact it became all the more stronger to serve this urge to procure an instrument to gaze into the heavens that are much more clearer and unobstructed here, or in Terni to be exact, as compared to back in Singapore.

After several weeks, some enquiries and a search through the Internet, I finally bought a refractor telescope of the Bresser brand from http://www.astroshop.de/. It should be arriving within a week from Germany! It's a 152mm achromat scope with a manual mount that should serve its purpose for some fascinating star gazing in Europe. :-)

Moon Over Terni!

2007-07-31T04:18:00.000+08:00

I have been here 1 month plus already and without a telescope. Still, I managed to stave off a major withdrawal symptom and stayed sane enough to focus on the real work at hand here in this villa at Terni.

(the first try...)

However, that did not stop me from using my trusted HP r707 digicam to capture some shots of the closest and biggest object in the sky during the night: the Moon. I have tried many times to the best of my ability to use the settings of the digicam to grab a decent picture of the Moon with its surface without having to overexpose it, but for the earlier tries I had failed miserably. :-P

Tonight being full moon and its size and brightness rather imposing over the hills beyond Terni and shining in the sky, I gave another try at it. Having set the ISO, EV and with flash on normal to give the shortest shutter speed, I went for it! To some extent,it was a success, but I'm sure with a digi SLR it could be much better. :-)

But, beggars can't be choosers! :-P

Outside My Window

2007-07-15T18:23:00.000+08:00

Having some sort of withdrawal symptom with regards my scope! :-P

Not having my C6 around can be a bummer, especially with the amount of stars and other night objects so clear and gran din the skies around here in the evening! All I have got for now is using the trusty HP r707 to get a digital pix of the sky, hoping it will show some semblance of night picture with great constellations. So, the one here taken last week outside my window, one night, was a great consolation for me, as it gave a sense of wonderment that any stars would! :-) Just click on the picture to see the actual size!

I had earlier scan through some websites looking for dealers in telescopes here in Italy and managed to source a particular one from Pordenone that may be able to get me a good set. :-) The one I am interested in, is this from Bresser. I will have to wait till I get back to the College and see what I can cook up with this proposed order from there. ;-)

Till then, buona notte e buon astronomia!

Terni Night Sky

2007-07-09T23:52:00.000+08:00

I couldn't bring my beloved C6 to Rome when I got here. :-P So, I really miss the times where I can use the scope to pierce the night skies, especially here when they offer so much more opportunities to capture those night objects without too much problems of light pollution.

So, last night, while trying to get some sleep, I looked out my window at around midnight and gazed upwards. What I saw there prompted me to take my trusty r707 digicam and just grab a shot of the night sky over Terni with ASA100 with no flash and setting a timer, so that the camera woudl be able to steay itself when the shot took place.

This was the best I can do. I haven't had the opportunity to go out into the grounds during the later part of the night as I would be rather tired out by then with all the studies and it is also very cold! Still, I might consider doing it just once and see if I can get a better one!

Till then may your skies be clear and happy viewing through your scope! ;-)

Skies Under JB

2007-07-07T17:05:00.000+08:00

Aiyaya!

I had been putting off for quite a while, entries on this, my 'eternity', that I feel I may have neglected this blog or even my sights of the heavens and the night skies... :-P

The trip to Palm Resort (JB) with the Art Ministry people had been a success of sorts, judging from the pics that can be seen over here. We went there on the 15th June (Friday) and arrived late around 10.00+ p.m. We surprisingly did not have too much of a problem at the Customs and our equipment went through nicely with no incident. That same night itself around 11.00+p.m. we started setting up the equipment and we were rewarded with Scorpius and the gentle giant that is Jupiter.

A grand fascination went through those who peeked through the scope and saw the planet with its colored band displayed handsomely as it hung quietly in the sky.

We, unfortunately, were hampered by bad skies and cloudy views for the main night on Saturday when we were anxiously looking forward to cover more of the heavens from the JB resort. It also drizzled during the day too! :-P

In the end we spend that Saturday night just enjoying each other's company and downing the BBQ food items which were in abundance and totally delicious! :-D

Coming back on Sunday afternoon, we were all glad to have gotten together to savour, if even for a short while and briefly, the wonders of God's grandness and His way he continues to stir our hearts with awe and wonder. :-)

So Long and Thanks for the Fish!...

2007-06-13T00:33:00.000+08:00

It's the last night here in Kajang.

The next night out to looking to the skies would be in the JB area this coming weekend with the Art Ministry people and friends. Hopefully we will. be able to get some good views of the constellations and especially the Milky Way. With the Starshoot, I am also aiming to get some nebulas, galaxies and Messier objects to grace this blog.

Meanwhile, I shall have to make it back safely first to Singapore. That's tomorrow on the 11 a.m. KL-Singapore Express coach from Pudu. A trip to the bus terminus there is already an adventure all by itself!... :-P

Kajang Stars

2007-06-06T22:36:00.000+08:00

I am now on holiday leave before leaving for studies in Rome and was at my sister's place across from the apartment where my parents are staying. I just came back with the rest of the family and the children from dinner at a restaurant nearby, got out of the car and decided to look up into the night sky.

I was rewarded by a stupendous view of the constellations and stars that covered the entire four directions which I could never get back in Holy Family, Singapore! Just by turning around through the four compass points on a single spot by the car, I saw Jupiter and Scorpius by the east, the Southern Cross along the southern portion, Venus and a few other constellations which I couldn't make out, by the west. The north was partially blocked by a huge passing cloud and also some light pollution that came by the highway that stretched across the housing estate where we were.

The sky was wonderfully twinkling with those stars and if this is what we can get in a semi-darken place, imagine what we can hope to achieve later when the Art Ministry group and myself do our weekend star gazing over at JB come 15th to 17th June under even darker conditions and with no obstructions at all! If there be no clouds cover or rain, I believe we will have an outstanding star party we won't forget in a long while! :-)

The Triumvirate

2007-05-12T01:06:00.000+08:00

The night was a little warm and not much wind to sway the branches of the plants and trees around the yard. The skies was clear and not a cloud to block the showing of the stars that were already twinkling in the dark.

I decided to just grab some pix from my trusty r707 digicam to see what it can do in the dark ;-) Quite a lot actually! As can be seen from the images here, it showed up the mighty Scorpius alongside its neighbour, Sagittarius. Just above them is the bright shining object that prominently glows more than its neighbouring stars around. That happens to be the giant Jupiter and her 4 moons clumped together which can be seen more clearly with the telescope, of course.... :-)

I took a few more shots around the skies that was visible within the sights of the presbytery's carpark near the refectory. They are here. This was an exercise in smaller scale of star gazing that needn't call for any usage of the scope. :-)

Having Another Go at Scorpius

2007-05-05T16:39:00.000+08:00

Last night I got out to the carpark area beside the presbytery that faces Chapel Road to do a bit of stargazing. The night was a little cool and quiet.

Above, the skies were relatively clear though the clouds were scattered enough to cause some inconvenience. Nonetheless, the moon was brilliant in its full stage. Because of that it was a little bit of a washout looking for M6 and M7 alongside Scorpius. That constellation too had its 'head' right smack in the same position where the moon was.

Jupiter was a little to the left and about 45deg downwards from the moon. Seeing that bright dot in the sky, which can be mistaken for a star, through the C6, the planet was glorious with its distinctive cloud bands and the moons of which, three were visible.

Looking for other Messier objects were rather difficult as the light and briliance of the moon masked out the dimmer objects which would otherwise made the night more 'exciting'. I am hoping I can do some justice to the scope this evening when I now use my previous ED80 which has been hibernating since the C6 took centerstage.

Something On A Wet Rainy Night...

2007-04-25T20:53:00.000+08:00

Great scott!

In celebration of Hubble Space Telescope's 17th anniversary, NASA/ESA has released a largest panaromic image ever taken with Hubble cameras. It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth - and death - is taking place.

The size here is a fraction of the original piece. It is actually an immense (29,566 x 14,321 pixels) mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. For printing purposes, it is really a huge photo that can cover a good piece of the wall at around 479MB! If you want a black and white version for the wall instead go here. It may look very dazzling on your living room! ;-)

Not the Venus I Expected ;-)

2007-04-25T09:57:00.000+08:00

I finally managed to get the scope out and glimpse at Venus!

With my day off, I could spend some time during the early evening from 8p.m. onwards keeping vigil and scanning the north-western sky. I set up the equipment 15 minutes earlier and was all eager to put Venus in my scope sights. When I finally did, it was a little bit of disappointment mixed with some awe whenever seeing a new planet for the first time. :-)

Venus was a little dim and half of it was shrouded in shadow. It looked like a piece of 'guli' (marble), albeit smaller, that seemed to hang mysteriously on the night sky. There wasn't much surface details and it was quite a work to focus it properly to get the best details in spite of the blurrynness. This is probably due to the gases and clouds that cover the planet most of the time. Then again it could also be that my scope is still not powerful enough to get a good focus. Still, it was with great appreciation that I could at last get Venus onto the C6's sight. I though the planet looked a little lonely and forlorn there which do not give justice to the famous name which usually conjures a more livelier and exciting expectation. :-D

The Moon was also up as it waxes towards full that is expected next week. Saturn was just about two fists away upwards from it. So, after Venus dropped off from view and went under as it was blocked by the buildings (was at Sea Avenue church area), I spend the rest of the evening accompanying these two. I used the moon filter to lessen the glare a little, to then see the shadows on the surface of the moon which heightened the contrast and depth of the craters which the pockmarked Moon displayed. Saturn was its usual grand self. :-) Never fails to impress me. The rings continue to take a large portion of attention and the moons that are barely visible, sort of, tickle the corner of my eyes.

When I packed up at around 10 p.m. it was just as well because the stray clouds started to waltz in and made viewing a washout :-P

Scorpius Reigns!

2007-04-23T16:38:00.000+08:00

After a break from watching the heavens, I was back out in the cool night yesterday catching the mighty Scorpius that held my attention as the constellation weaved several sights into view with Jupiter in tow.

The skies were clear and reasonably dark despite the usual light pollution that only Singapore is famous for. If there were lesser lights aorund the area, I could have been able to take better constellations that includes Saggitarius (Teapot) that was right beside Scorpius.

Still, I can't complain. I had good skies last night which I used to the fullest and got my hp r707 digicam to grab some pictures that, though isn't all that great, highlighted the beauty of the constellations that graced the south-eastern sky. Along the way, I managed to identify M7, a globular cluster that was between the Teapot and Scorpius. M6 was a tad too dim for me to grab onto the scope, though I could see it with the binocs. I had some trouble moving the scope to capture M6 as I couldn't put it within the finder's sight :-P

Earlier I had also gotten the r707 to capture this incredibly fascinating piece of sight in the sky that looked very Christian! ;-) It was on the southern part of the night sky, and it was Crux. The four points of the cross can be clearly seen. :-) Amazing!

It was quite a good night out, though I was a little tired from the Sunday's proceedings. But the prospect of capturing Jupiter and her moons and viewing the Ms were too tempting to let go! ;-)

(more pictures here)

Jupiter Party along the Teapot!

2007-04-14T03:48:00.000+08:00

This wee hours of the morning, I managed to spurn the soporific call of Lady Sleep and kept vigil with my C6 and was rewarded with some awesome sight of the night sky that was along the eastern part! :-)

It had rain heavily for the good part of the day earlier and I thought I wouldn't be able to get the scope out for a run or two. But the rain stopped by 8+pm and the skies cleared somewhat. When I came down around 12.30 a.m. to set the equipment up, I was worried awhile because the clouds started to play havoc on the skies that blanketed the portion I wanted to look at. Then it began to disperse and I had the whole eastern sky to myself! ;-)

And I wasn't disappointed...

Jupiter and her 4 moons (Ganymede, Europa, Callisto and Io) shone clearly through the scope and I used the Starshoot to capture their beauty! Well, as best as I can capture them, that is :-P I had to overexpose one to get the moons in. But through the C6 I saw Jupiter and her moons very distinctly. The last I saw Jup was exactly last year with Fr Paul Goh's scope over at OLPS then.

Then, when I got through with admiring Jupiter, it was time for some interesting look over at the Scorpius constellation. Beside it on the left was good 'ol Saggitarius, a.k.a. the Teapot. Between them I saw and captured M7. M6 was nearby but rather dim for me to grab anything though I could see both M6 and M7 through the binocs which had a greater point of view, which made seeing slightly more visible. The picture on the left is a portion of M7 taken with the Starshoot on Light Mono at 3 sec exposure.

It is the best and fruitful stargazing so far and hopefully will be able to do the same to cover a little more of the eastern skies towards the north a little tomorrow...

Lunacy!

2007-04-03T21:35:00.000+08:00

It has been rather touch and go with my star gazing activities lately due to the workload and activities relating to the Lenten season that occupy my attention more than the stars! :-P

Mostly when I do want to do some ob'ing, when evening turns up I feel so lethargic and tired that the one thing I would head for is the bed! However, I did manage to scope out the sights of the moon last Wednesday night, right after the penitential service at Holy Family. This time round I also managed to rope in Frs Timothy and Bosco (parish of the Holy Trinity, Tampines) to join in the fun. :-) For them the sight of the eerie pockmarked lunar landscape was a sight to behold! They were rather taken by the cold, dark and stark environment of the moon seen through my trusty C6 SCT.

Previously, some weeks ago, the moon set rather late in the morning and I managed to grab a pix of it as it stood its ground in the early part of the morning after mass, which I had celebrated. My Nokia N80 came in handy for that.

Today, it is full moon and the sky is awash with the lunar glow which makes stargazing a chore. This is exacerbated by the constant light pollution that surrounds the entire island and the unwelcomed presence of the clouds that takes all the fun out of doing a starry night...

There Is Always A Tomorrow?....

2007-03-12T11:03:00.000+08:00

I have this dubious honour of missing out on good opportunities for a good star gazing night out. When the skies are clear, the weather is fine and the night air steady, I am either:

a. too tired, because of the activities/work during the day

b. sick and coughing, like recently

c. have an appointment in the evening I cannot break

d. too tired, yes, again!

So, there have been many occasions when I tell myself, 'Tomorrow lah! It will still be the same' and when tomorrow comes, I am unable to do anything because of the above reasons or worse, the skies are totally clouded or it rains! :-P

The challenge this month is to see if I can get up around 4.00+ a.m. and catch Jupiter on the southern skies along the constellation of Sagittarius and Scorpius... ;-)

What Lunar Eclipse?!...

2007-03-05T22:46:00.000+08:00

It was suppose to be the most awaited event early this year since the last one 2 1/2 years ago. The time when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are all align in a straight line that causes the Moon to be eclipsed.

The event here was to happen at dawn on Sunday, 4 March and from where I am I should be able to catch a good glimpse of it happening. I rubbed my hands with glee at that opportunity as I prepared my scope early that Sunday morning around 4+ a.m. I forced myself to get up and prepared myself around that time so that I could be adequately catered for any emergencies (wrong placement of scope and mount, low battery).

When I got everything in place - mount polar align as much as possible, scope adequately focused, and eyepiece all in place with the finderscope calibrated - I saw the Moon grinning brightly along the western sky with a look through the binocs and scope's eyepiece. What a sight! Then I realised I need to shift my scope further down to the carpark area facing East Coast Road as the Moon was slowly setting and its sight was going to be blocked by the bchurch building! :-P

Having quickly shifted all those equipment to the designated area nearer East Coast Road, and realigned the C6 towards the lunar object in the sky, I prepared myself for the sight that was to be touted as a feast for any lunatic. ;-) Then horror of horrors!!....

The clouds started to waltz in and bit by bit shrouded the Moon totally from sight. There was nothing to be seen!! I felt as if the carpet had been pulled from under my feet! :-P The clouds came in and stayed there for the rest of the time that I had to disassemble all the equipment and head back with head bowed in total disapppoinment. *sigh*

I had no time to cry over such astronomical disaster as I had to quickly prepare myself for Mass that morning at 7.15 a.m. But it was a great travesty and a bad joke that only nature can give a person. All it did was to send in the clouds!...

Saturn

2007-02-10T02:45:00.000+08:00

Success, at last!

Put out the C6 to its rounds of night sky gazing and it had the capacity for allowing the Star Shoot to grab a picture of Saturn, as it loomed in the sky millions of miles away. Got some friends over, who dropped by after supper, to enjoy its sight too! :-)

I had earlier set up the equipment around 11.30 p.m. and went for the short marathon gazing right till 2.00 a.m. Capturing this sight of Saturn after many missed tries earlier on was certainly a great moment which was akin to striking a lottery! Even if the one shot pic isn't much to shout about, just the effort put in and getting a reasonable display as such was enough.

Later on, as I was packing up, the moon appeared peeking halfway in the night sky. Viewed it through the eyepiece awhile before calling it a night. It was a good night out for a Friday! :-D

Mini Marathon!

2007-02-09T20:44:00.000+08:00

The skies are exceptionally clear this evening! There aren't any signs of rain and the cloud cover is almost zero. The only thing that is moving on the air is the wind and its strength is medium. So, all the more for a mini marathon this evening!

I just did a cursory sweep of the eastern and northern part of the skies from the usual car park area near the presbytery, with my trusty binocs and it was already gorgeous to notice Saturn twinkling mischieveous along the north-eastern sky and Orion with its nebula just overhead! :-) I can't wait for a little later to take out the C6 and go get some serious astro shots!

Sister Moon

2007-02-05T12:04:00.000+08:00

I finally got my C6 out into the yard one night, about a week ago, and put her through her paces. She didn't disappoint! The skies continued her pouty ways of being cloudy, though, and the weather didn't help either with it being cold and windy! :-P

Nonetheless, I managed to capture the sight of Sister Moon and the all inspiring Saturn. :-) I used my HP r707 to get this Moon but still wasn't able to get the sight of Saturn with it. I didn't use the Star Shoot as I just wanted to use the C6 without too much hassle of other equipment and time wasn't on my side either. I also used my Orion Explorer zoom eyepiece, whose focal length range from 5mm to 21mm, to view the sights!

The next round, I hope to capture more deep space objects with the C6, now that I have a bigger and better aperture to play with! ;-)

C6!

2007-01-25T19:49:00.000+08:00

My new Celestron C6 - SGT arrived!

Only problem is, the weather hasn't been kind with its days of rain, drizzle, and cloudy skies for the past week and doesn't seem to be letting up just yet. However, on some nights, the skies were clear after a heavy shower earlier. Unfortunately, I was either drained out for the day or have a morning mass to celebrate the next day, that I couldn't take out any of my scope for some star gazing... :-P

I did put the new C6 - SGT out to the porch last night to see if I can start viewing the moon while it was up and setting in the evening sky. But I couldn't focus the instrument well and gave up trying further. It was probably because the scope was in my aircon office earlier and when brought out into the night air, took some time to adjust its difference of temperature inside and outside the building which made the focusing rather impossible.

Anyway, here is to clear skies later tonight or tomorrow! :-)

TGIF!

2007-01-19T11:54:00.000+08:00

There were clear skies the past two nights but I wasn't able to do any heavens watching as I was exhausted after the days activities and put off those sessions and went to bed instead :-P

However, I may get a good and exciting time with star gazing this evening, should the trip to the Science Center Observatory go through! A group of us is going there for a night out with the Centre's telescope and hopefully see some wondrous sights of what the heavens contain. :-)

Here's to clear skies! TGIF!

Clear Skies!

2007-01-16T22:07:00.000+08:00

It hasn't rain for the past two days!

The skies at night now are ripe for some good and solid OB'ing! So, should the weather continue to hold liek this for the next two hours or so, I shall be heading out with my trusty C80 and do some Messier catching. I may also just give a go at capturing them through the Starshoot.

Meanwhile, I am still waiting for my 6" SCT due to arrive in about two weeks time. By next month, I shall be gearing up for some serious deep space gazing! ;-) In between, I am also looking forward to the coming trip to the Science Centre to see their observatory there. :-)

Rain and A Fever!

2007-01-12T11:35:00.000+08:00

Drat! The rains and cloudy skies returned that put paid to any decent sky gazing... :-P It has been rather disappointing the past month of so that my C80-ED lies around not being able to do its magic in showing the heavens since the last round some weeks ago. It's playing the waiting game now...

Speaking of that, I am waiting for my new purchase of another telescope! This time it is the SCT from Celestron - a 6" Schmidt Cassegrain with Starbright XLT coatings. Yes, I have succumbed to the aperture fever! :-) It should be arriving within 2 - 3 weeks from now. When it arrives, I shall have the opportunity to use that for a more bigger picture view of the universe!...

A Good One

2007-01-07T07:50:00.000+08:00

After all that rain and unpredictable weather with the clouds coming and going, it was a frustrating guessing game of when one can get a good, clear night sky for any observing. So, it was very fortunate that I could get a good 2 hours to enjoy last Friday evening getting in some good sights of the Moon and Saturn. :-)

I also invited a parishioner friend and his family to join in the sky-gazing party which they gladly accepted. It was a feast for the eyes as the sky revealed her beauty and vastness of the universe upon which the Moon and Saturn seemed to hang silently in the background.

For the kids that came in for the starry ride, their senses gave in to the wonders and awe of the night sky as they saw for the first time Saturn and her rings which absolutely thrilled them to bits. :-) Meanwhile, the moon was full and its shine was brilliant enough to cause a halo around it that gave a tinge of majesty to the sight!

All in all, a fruitful and enjoyable night and the trusty C80-ED did not disappoint!

Monsoon Bleeagh Part Deux....

2007-01-04T18:49:00.000+08:00

The rains have kept me from doing a decent OB'ing of the skies for the past two months! :-P *bummer*

I thought that now in January, as the rains begin to drop off, I could start up on my C80-ED but the weather the past week decided to renew its vengeance in letting the waters fall again! :-P If there were no rains, the clouds would be a hindrance with its unwanted display of fluff and obstacle to any star gazing. I don't know if tonight would be any better... :-(

A Night With Orion

2006-12-11T04:05:00.000+08:00

I thought I'd give another scan around the Orion constellation and see if the Nebula is able to be captured, which I did - in three different moods. I was doing that while gazing at the Moon in its 3rd quarter, showing that was still bright to have blotted out other stars around it that made identifying other constellations a little tricky...

Meanwhile, I managed to grab the great Orion Nebula in three distinct tones and each of them give a solemn note to the existence of what goes on out there in the vast expanse of space and further into the universe.

The first one was in B/W and at 6 seconds exposure, using the trusty Starshoot CCD Imager. Then I decided to see what we would get at 3 seconds exposure. It gave a slightly solemn image which perhaps was a little truer to it's deep space environment.

To top the entire session for the night, a grab of the Nebula in colour was taken and, though not as distinct in its feature as the earlier one I had in the previous blog entry, it was still a sight to behold! When I was gazing at it through the 5mm Stratus WA lens, the scene unfolded was one of awe, respect and silence when I saw the wispy patch of the nebula that surrounded the area where the stars were, of which three distinct ones, in sort of a line, showed the main spot.
All in all, it was an amazing night out under the Hunter's embrace that danced under the silvery Moon. I didn't managed to get a picture of the Moon as it was too bright. Along the way, Saturn made its grand appearance that equally stunned the senses. I used the 3x barlow and the 5mm lens, which managed to magnify the planet somewhat which gave an added satisfaction to seeing it in all its glory, ringed planet and all!

Monsoon Bleeagh

2006-12-07T21:47:00.000+08:00

I have put my new binoculars through its paces and it is great! The views are sharp and impressive to the sight, especially when checking out the moon. Even the constellations were distinctively clear and create a sense of nearness despite the astronomical disctance.

I had also taken the scope for a spin or two the last two weeks but due to the weather (monsoon) and the clouds that were around most of the time, star gazing has been kept to the minimum. But in those occasions when I could get clear skies and decent view, I managed to grab a look at Saturn which hangs silently in the eastern sky, making its appearance a little after 1 am.

I should start something exciting again next week and grab a few more Messiers when I am able to because I am off from masses. Hence late night marathons may be possible! :-)

Complements

2006-11-30T16:52:00.000+08:00

My orders for a correct image diagonal and the Orion (wide field) 8x42mm binoculars have arrived!

As you can see, I am now a proud owner of two items that will now be part of my astronomy arsenal to further probe the skies for God's creative work of the universe which continues to boogle man's search for the meaning of life. I can't wait to try them out and put them through their paces. The binocs would be an easier candidate to begin while the diagonal may wait awhile with regards to the weather we have been getting lately.

I have already scan the surroundings from my bedroom window using the binocs and the clarity and contrast of the sight that came from it are superb! Wait till I use that to scan the skies during the night and see what starry sight will unfold. :-)

The Great Andromeda

2006-11-26T09:59:00.000+08:00

After dinner and house blessing last night, I decided to chance an experience to get hold of the elusive Andromeda Galaxy that was hiding from me the past week. The skies were fortunately clear and the scene from the north/northwest was perfect to look out for it.

Using the eyepiece, first to find my way around the constellation, it was a good 10 minutes or thereabouts of scouring the sky, noting the other stars that were in the neighbourhood. Then, suddenly, like a thief in the night, the great A Galaxy suddenly appeared like magic into view - M31, aka the Andromeda Galaxy!

While it was suppose to be visible to the naked eye but because of the horrible light pollution in the sky, that wasn't discernible. However, the scope was just decent enough to show her as a faint misty patch close to the star Nu Andromedea. Using the barlow and the WA 5mm lens, it became a little clearer, or at least discernible enough to note that it is a misty patch that is almost circular.

I tried to get a picture of it with the Start Shoot but the results were not good, so I decided against keeping any. That was after several tries to focus and exposing the CCD to get a semblnace of what this galaxy looked like. *sigh* I have yet to find a proper way to do this sort of thing....

Still the sight of this galaxy was quite a humbling experience because it is the furthest object we can see in the heavens with a naked eye. The scope only further accentuate this sight! *wow!*

Relak...

2006-11-24T23:39:00.000+08:00

On a quiet night like this, you can just slowly chill out with this little piece of flash 'movie'... ;-)

Another Night Marathon

2006-11-23T20:03:00.000+08:00

It was a little after midnight on a warm Thursday when I got about to set up my equipment to scan the eastern and northern skies.

I went up to the 4th floor of 3 Sea Avenue block to see if they were get vantage points for star gazing. To some extend they were. One was the balcony outside room 04 - 01 whichlooked out towards east and a partially convered north. The other took in a wider view of all points of the compass. The both also have one best thing in common - they are above the lights from the ground. I really contemplated hard as to whether I want to lug all my equipment up there. In the end, I figured, not yet, as I wasn't ready and not feeling cavalier in carrying that heavy computerised mount all the way through flights of stairs in semi-darkness. So, I had to content myself with viewing from the ground with those pesky street lights shining merrily away...

But that didn't stop me from getting some interesting shots with the Star Shoot. One is of the Maia Nebula also known as M45 or Pleiades. I did get an earlier shot of it before but this time round it was much better observable. It was a like a glob or cluster of stars that was just visible ot the naked eye and when it came under the eyepiece of the scope, they looked like diamonds in the sky!

I still couldn't get a glimpse of the Andromeda Galaxy because it was lost in the clouds and buildings that were in the vicinity and also it was already going down the western sky. Nonetheless, I managed to get the best part which was I stayed up for - Saturn. I managed to get a rough shot of it with the Start Shoot, but the view through the eyepiece of the 5mm Stratus WA lens was simply magnificent!

Not that bad for an extended night out. I finally got to bed just before 4 a.m. this morning... :-)

The Ringed Planet

2006-11-22T18:48:00.000+08:00

I did another star gazing marathon early this morning after midnight!

I already had plans to scour the skies for Andromeda Galaxy and a few Messier items discernible around the Orion constellation looking east. But due to the light pollution and the buildings that were around, Andromeda couldn't be properly sighted. :-P

It was disappointing also with other Messier objects which I was looking out for. Using the Starshoot didn't make matters any better as the focusing that went in to get any picture out were all rather off. So, I spend most of the time scanning other constellations around, e.g. Gemini and Auriga and their corresponding stars. At around 3+ am I then realised that Saturn was already making its appearance through the trees, opposite my observing site, that was in the vicinity.

That was when I decided to hunt it down and get a good look at it. I got first sight of it through the 20mm Plossl eyepiece and saw its distinctive shape but it was rather tiny. Then I used the Barlow 3x and was blown away by what I saw! The distinctive shape of the planet with its ring round it was just too awesome to take it all in sitting down! ;-) Problem was I couldn't get the Starshoot to focus properly to get a good picture... :-P *bummer* So you will just have to take my word for it. :-)

The night and into the wee morning was worth the wait and effort.. :-)

Here Comes The Sun!

2006-11-20T12:09:00.000+08:00

I decided to take some Sun/solar pictures this morning as I have some time to spare and to make up for the disappointing lack of night gazing lately either due to weather constrains or my own laziness... :P

These shots were taken throught the scope's eyepiece using my HP r707 digicam. The telescope was set up with a Kendrick-CH solar filter at the main objective lens. It is a simple exercise of using the simplest camera to capture the brightest object in our skies without burning your eyes! ;-) But, boy, was it hot and sweaty getting all the equipment under the Sun, to align the scope properly to get the sight of this hot star of our Solar System!

If you scan carefully, you may just see the faint sunspot on the last picture at the northern right of the Sun. Look again, more carefully, you may just get another surprising look of the hot gases on the roiling surface of the Sun... ;-)

The Dog and M41 - A Revisit...

2006-11-16T02:31:00.000+08:00

This early morning, just after midnight, the skies were clear and the Eastern sky with its offering of Orion and his neighbours were a sight to behold! My original intention this morning was to capture M41 and the Andromeda Galaxy.

But because Andromeda was blocked by the surrounding buildings nearby, I was only able to look for M41. So, I started to get my bearings with the Dog Star first, Sirius (above, left). Then I slew over, slightly, to the north east of that star, hoping to find M41,

given as a splash of stars huddled together.

Using the Star Shoot, I took a pic of it of what I think may be M41. I compared this with the reference pic in the nightsky magazine and I believe it is the real McCoy! ;-) I had also taken a color pic of it under a 3 sec exposure timing.

Now, I am still not too sure if M41 as given here is it... Still, it was a good night out with the skies being clear as it is. The only persistent problem were the street lamps that continue to be a total bummer to night vision. :-P I didn't bother to wait for Saturn as it comes above the eastern sky horizon now and should be visible a little after 3 am later. Those darn lights can put a damper to the catching sight of it...

Captured Two Ms! (aka M&M)

2006-11-11T03:03:00.000+08:00

They say good things come to those who wait. I believe and agree!

After a drink of coffee (with sugar and milk) and chatting with both the Youth Council and Catechists group, I walked back from Jago's and glanced up in the sky to see that it was reasonably clear and Orion just appearing near the zenith of the eastern sky, I had to go and prepare the scope for a look see, look see.

I decided to have another go with the Start Shoot and was I greatly surprised! Managed to further tweak and played around with the options available and here are the results:

Finally captured the great M42! Otherwise known as the Orion Nebula, it is the brightest and best known nebula in the heavens. Located some 1,500 light years away, it measures some 15 light years across. In other words, it's HUGE and very, very FARAWAY... :-D Nonetheless, I am happy to have been able to capture this picture as is.

Then I slew over to the 7 Sisters in the sky to get and see if I can grab a pic too and see how it comes out, now that the skies are rather clear and not obscured too much by the passing clouds and the ambient lights around. It was amazing what patience can bring!
Pleiades or the 7 Sisters is a spectacular open star cluster. In all, the cluster probably contains in excess of 100 stars. It is also known as M45.

So, just for this wee hours of the morning, I managed to cover two Messier items! I am beside myself with glee! :-D