4th
March, Saturday, 8am. I'm still having some
reservations about going on this trip. Yes, I made a
choice to go on this trip based on instinct. Truth be
told, I was expected to be carrying out a work
responsibility somewhere else at 11am. And yes, my
conscience is stabbing me right now for trading in my
work commitments for this trip. 10am, we boarded the
express bus to Mersing; I guess there's no turning
back now, I'll have to cancel. Excuses run through my
head. Thankfully, I have a pretty good track record,
so I guess I could mess this one up. How can anyone
else understand how important the new moon is to me?
(Sounds too much like a cult thing. *sheesh*)
10.45am, we're queuing up at the Immigration
checkpoint. The phone dials.. "Ahem.. (I mask my
voice with a sickly rasp.) Sorry, but I'm not feeling
too well today, I need to postpone today's session.
I'll see you on Monday. Thanks." Guilty, guilty,
guilty! :)
Surprisingly,
we sailed through the customs checkpoint. A valid
note for worry as this was no petty equipment. It was
quite a chore to drag the equipment on and off the
bus and fret about the customs officer's moods. But
once we passed this check, the rest of the journey
would completed in mental peace.
We
hit Mersing town by 2pm and hung around the KFC
outlet making last-minute preparations. By 5pm, we
reached Tanjung Resang. The place looked as
picturesque as before. We came early enough today to
do some exploring. A cattle herd of 16 grazed the
nearby area. One mad cow with horns would be
sufficient to take down the Losmandy G11 and its
attachments. We prayed for the cows would go home
when the sun set, and graciously they did.
Just
to the Northeast side of this place was a delightful
stretch of sand and sea. I had always thought this
was a deserted place, roamed by few, sauf
the German(?) guy who lived there in a stilt house. A
little walk around the area revealed several other
stilt houses, and a semi-resort located by the bay
inlet. There was a canoeing expedition group who had
just arrived at the beach cove. In addition to the
cattle, a flock of sheep was spotted grazing the
grassy patch of land seperating the South China Sea
from the cove area.
Returned
to camp just in time for sunset. A beautiful vermillion orb sinking westwards slowly behind the
shadows of the coconut trees. The hunt had begun for
the first star of the night.. erm, hang on.. what
first star?! We got 5 bright ones right now, and more
are appearing by the minute! Jupiter, Sirius, Rigel,
Saturn, Capella, and on and on.
The
very moment we spotted enough stars in the sky, and
figured that it was sufficiently dark, we proceeded
onto photography. The first region: Orion, of special
interest tonight, the Rosette nebula and M42 and M43.
Come to think of it, the entire sky was about flooded
with stars, but we had to work with the ones which
were setting soon.
Unbelievable!
Almost no clouds, just a few little puffs now and
then in the lowest stratosphere. This was to be the
case for the whole night. But these were strange
clouds; None were reflecting light from the nearby
resorts. The cloudy puffs were darker than the
starlit skies. We only know they are passing by when
the stars slowly polarize out of our sight. They were
almost like some kind of light-absorbing dark matter.
Interesting.
While
Remus and I were absorbed in astrophotography, Gavin
had located a couple of Messier objects. What excited
Gavin most was his first glimpse at the Milky Way
next to the Orion and Canis Major region. The
faintest region of our galaxy. It can be quite an
amazing sight for any city astronomer.
Almost
perfect conditions for photography work too. Few
clouds, slight wind, and NO DEW from dusk to dawn.
Everything stayed dry. It wasn't even cold. The only
inconvenience was the biting insects which managed to
attack the flesh through our clothes. Occasionally, a
passing motorist would temporarily flash us. :) The
road was pretty close by. Busy night for aeroplanes
too as they zipped around. Unusual though that we
could not see the floodlit path of the planes, only
their blinking red signature.
There
were sporadic meteors abound too. We caught a couple
of small ones and a few more with longer trails. They
had no specific point of origin. The Milky Way was
unfolding magnificently. From The region of Auriga
(am I dreaming??) to Monoceros, just past Canis Major
and Puppis. The Carina region was about rising and
Eta Carina was a patchy sight.
The
guys fell asleep just before midnight, leaving me to
my own devices. While the guys napped, I borrowed
Gavin's binocs and went on a Messier hunt of my own.
The binocular stellar views were spectacular and the
Messier objects were just waiting to be found. Even
with the naked eye, I could make out several fuzzy
patches of something or another.
2.15am,
the first battery for the G11 was exhausted. Gavin
and Remus were starting to stir. Centaurus was up,
Crux was on the distant horizon, and Antares
(Scorpius) had risen too. The Milky Way continued its
glorious path across Vela and Carina, through Crux.
Waait a minute.. *Ohmigosh!!* Is
that the Coalsack??!! Seriously!
We're actually looking at the Coalsack patch in Crux!
We can actually SEE that?! That's a first for all
three of us and how are we ever going to be satisfied
with just city skies from now? Unbelievable.
Sagittarius
and Scorpius wove their way into the starry tapestry
continuing the Milky Way mosaic. Soon (or so it
seemed) the skies were gently paleing; Is it morning
already? *Sigh!* Truly one starlit night to remember.
By
Lin . 8th March 2000, Wednesday.
