This
was our third star party and first overland trip to
Tanjung Sedili - a rustic getaway lazing on the east
coast of Malaysia. 21 amateur astronomers, amateur
*city* astronomers, most of whom are about to be
initiated into the physical world which inspired the
mappers of the URANOMETRIA. With open skies to North
and East, and little city glare, the chances of
having good stargazing settings were high.
It
was everything I had hoped for.. except for the black
sand, which wasn't really
"black sand" but pristine sand which had
been polluted by I-have-no-idea-what. Pity. There
were subtle hints that the place could have been a
really beautiful white beach. But that's not what
this article is about.
It's
suppose to be about dark nights, great skies, many
suns, zero Moon, and the only cloud-like thing that
won't be cursed at is the Milky Way. Of course, no
significant details shall be mentioned about insects.
The fireflies were lovely. I think they were the only
ones that flew around and DIDN'T bite.
In
fact, I'll say the whole trip was great. Two glorious
starry nights are worth the zombie-fied state that
followed the time after dawn.
[14th
/ 15th night] It was still heavily
overcast at dinnertime and hopes of prospecting for
stars that first night appeared bleak. A
picture-perfect sunset awashed with a thousand hues
appeared with the sea mirroring in kind. The clouds
eventually dispersed at 8pm. Other than the
occasional cirrocumulus, the night was otherwise
excellent. The
Big Dipper, just above the eastern sea, was the first
constellation to greet the observation site that was
located on a bay. Attention was given to Mizar, a
visible double star system in Ursa Major. To the
west, Leo was readily visible with Regulus twinkling
brightly. Draco, Aquila, Cygnus, Lyra, Pisces,
Aquarius, among other constellations, slowly made
their way across the eastside.
The
Milky Way, which many mistook for a wisp of cloud,
became clearer as the night wore on. Conditions
improved greatly at around 3am when the hazy band
stretched across the zenith. It poured out from
Sagittarius' teapot, with Scorpius' tail dipping in,
and Cygnus careening over its surface. Scorpius was
strutting around gloriously. Antares, the heart of
Scorpius, and the red rival to Mars (which was close
to Spica in Virgo), was bloody brilliant. The M7 open
cluster and NGC 6231 were discernible. M7 looked good
through a pair of 7x50 binoculars. The hunt continued
for star clusters and distant galaxies.
As the
stars saturated the night, they overwhelmed the
novices who had a challenging time figuring out the
various constellations and asterisms. Someone in his
stellar confusion, thought he had seen Orion,
oblivious to the fact that Orion was on his personal
June vacation from the night. Light sabres cut
through the night as bright and focused torchlights
were used to help these budding stargazers scan the
myriad of stars and guide them around the
star-speckled neighbourhood. Human ingenuity never
fails in confusion. Soon, one of them discovered that myopic stargazers could
simply remove the glasses they are wearing. A pair of
unaided myopic eyes acts as a crude filter that
allows only objects brighter than magnitude 0.0 to be
visible. Known unofficially as "Kelvin's Zero
Magnitude Filter", it proved to be a big help to
many novice stargazers. (Kelvin was our cameraman for
the trip.)
Other
miscellaneous objects in the night sky included
artificial satellites and meteors. The brighter
satellites observed that evening numbered around
four. While many were delighted to see these man-made
shooting star wonders, meteors drew an even warmer
response when spotted. At around 5am, The stars
looked even brighter and many other stars that were
previously too dim now appeared. By this time,
Jupiter and Saturn have risen. It was a good chance
to observe Saturn as the light polluted skies of
Singapore mars most planetary details. Through a
6" Schmidt-Cassegrain, Saturn looked like
(quote) "a yellow squashed hamburger", an
apt description which many identified with. Over at
Jupiter's, two of the Galilean moons were visible,
together with the two brown bands on Jupiter.
The sun
rose from behind the hills at around 6.30am. It
showed itself bit by bit, against a background of
orange, yellow and red formed by the clouds. The sun
first revealed a little edge, then a bigger fragment,
which grew into a semicircle. Eventually, the sun was
totally visible. The clouds became a kaleidoscope of
colours, changing with each moment as Helios awoke
and continued on his path across the sky. Those who
were patient enough to delay bedtime by an hour to
catch the sunrise were justly rewarded. By this time,
the sea had receded about 500 metres from shore, and
one could literally walk across the seabed.
[15th
/ 16th night]
The
second night was dedicated to astrophotography. The
southern skies looked better this evening, with Crux
and Ursa Major vying for attention. Unlike Singapore
skies where only Alpha and Beta Centauri are visible,
the whole shape of Chiron the Centaur could be made
out clearly. Through a pair of binoculars, the Jewel
Box in Crux enchanted many. The Ring, Swan and
Dumbbell nebulae were also observed through the
telescopes, much to the delight of many who saw them
for the first time. The Ring nebula was a fuzzy patch
with a pinhole-like opening which require the viewer
to be visually gifted in order to glimpse it. Most
could not quite see the pinhole in the nebulae. The
Swan nebula was even more demanding on one's
imagination to visualise a bird out of a fuzzy patch.
The Dumbbell nebula looked more like an apple eaten
to its core, than a gym apparatus.
Just
when everyone thought the second night was better
then the first, dark clouds suddenly marched across
the sky, snuffing out all celestial bodies in its
wake. All equipment was swiftly moved into shelter
for fear of rain. For most, the second stargazing
session had ended. Some of the more enthusiastic ones
remained under the sky, hoping that it would clear.
Though shorter than the first, the second session was
still quite an eyeful.
By
Lin . 25th June 1999, Friday.
