Stargazers

NAW-PAC 2012

2012-01-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the activites for the National Astronomy Week - Philippine Astronomy Congress for the year 2012 in line with ALP and RTU:

RTU:
Lecture: "The Birth and Death of the Milky Way" by Reinabelle P. Reyes, Ph.D. from Princeton University.
February 14, 2012

National Museum Planetarium:
Opening Ceremony. 19 Feb 2012
Film showing: "Doomsday 2012: End of Days"
Planetarium show: opening of "Starry Starry Nights"
Lectures:
"A Guide to knowing the truth about 2012 End of Days Scenario" Dr. Armando Lee
"Messier Observing Strategies" Peter Tubalinal
"Sky Observations with Celestron SkyScout" Christopher Lee

To be followed by public viewing at Rajah Solayman Park

Astrocamp/MOA:
24 Feb 2012. Free Public Viewing.

RTU:
Closing Ceremony. 25 Feb 2012.
Lectures:
"Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe" John Ray Cabrera
"White Light & H-alpha Solar Imaging" Dr. Jett Aguilar
"Tips and Secrets of Planetary Imaging" Christopher Go
"The State of Philippine Astronomy" Dr. Jesus Torres

alternate lecture: "When the Universe Attacks" Reuel Norman Marigza, Jr.

To be followed by Free Public Viewing
at RTU Quadrangle

Observation at Taytay, Rizal

2012-01-24T02:23:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, the astronomy graduate school students of RTU went out to Taytay, Rizal for an overnight observation. We set up in a place called Paradiso and set out to observe several targets as well as spend some time together. We brought along 4 telescopes (2 Astromaster 130s, 1 Meade ETX 125 and my TS 70) with us as well as several binoculars to observe the night sky. I brought my imaging gear with me but had to deal with winds shaking up my tripod.

We were able to observe several clusters, the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn, as well as some DSOs. We also were able to see several sporadic meteors most of which were bollides.

Participants: Von, Peejay, Joey, Ruby, Ryan, Pia, Pamela, Lieza, Vanessa, and myself.

Starry Christmas Night

2012-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

My family spent the Christmas eve in our grandmother's place in Tuding, Baguio. Fortunately, the sky was crystal clear and the area was significantly dark. I set-up the camera and imaged the night sky

[Note: Hover the cursor over the image to reveal targets]

Images Taken with Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm lens set at 18. Exposure 30 sec.

2012 – A Year for Meteor Showers

2012-01-06T06:52:00.000-08:00

The year 2012 is a year for meteor showers, and I don’t mean in relation to the apocalyptic end-of-the-world scenario as some may believe. This year is a year for meteor showers because the new moon coincides with most of the major meteor showers. This means that you can see more of the meteor shower because the light from the moon does not interfere with the fainter meteors that streak by the Earth’s atmosphere. It is simply a case of brighter light dimming the fainter lights. The new moon is always the best time for observing if you wish to see fainter targets – provided of course that you are away from light pollution (bright city/house lights) and that the weather cooperates.

There are 7 major meteor showers and four of them have their peaks during the new moon. They are the Lyrids (April 22), Orionids (Oct 20), Leonids (Nov 13), and the Geminids (Dec 13). This year will be the best time for observing meteors since the next two years will only have one meteor shower during the new moon (Perseids – 12 Aug 2013; & Quadrantids - 3 Jan 2014).

The Lyrids meteor shower has a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) during the peak of 20 meteors per hour. Its radiant (apparent source or point of origin in the sky) lies a few degrees from Vega in the constellation Lyra. The source of this meteor stream is the comet Thatcher.

The Orionids meteor shower has a ZHR during the peak of 25 per hour. The radiant appears to be along the right arm of Orion the hunter. The source of the meteors is the comet 1P/Halley.

The Leonids meteor shower has a ZHR during the peak of 20 per hour but usually varies and becomes a meteor storm that can generate up to 1,000 meteors per hour. In November 1966 the ZHR was approximately 100,000 per hour. The varying rate suggests that the meteor orbit is fairly young. Its radiant lies inside the asterism of the sickle in the constellation of Leo. The stream originates from the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The meteors move across the atmosphere with speed of 44 miles per second and as a result would generate more fireballs (very bright meteors) from large amounts of friction with the atmosphere.

The Geminids meteor shower, a personal favorite, has a ZHR during the peak of 120 per hour (approx 2/min). Although the slowest of the meteor showers, the Geminids still produce fireballs as a result of their denser and heavier meteors. The radiant of the meteor is close to Castor of the constellation Gemini. The stream originates from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon.

M42 Orion Nebula

2012-01-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

Orion Nebula through TS 70

2011-12-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here is an image of the M42 Orion Nebula taken from the Travel Scope 70 with a Nikon D3100. I still have to find a mount with a motor drive so I can do long exposures and avoid the star trails.

The Orion Nebula (M42/NGC 1976) is also known as "the Great Nebula." It is a bright magnitude 4 emission nebula that is located in the middle of the hunter's sword (second of the three star looking points below the belt of Orion). The great wings of gas curve away from a glowing mettled core, lit by a quadruplet star system known as the Trapezium (hard to distinguish from the image above). Trapezium, easily seen in telescopes as a trapezoid of four close bright stars, is located at the heart of M42. It is a multiple system of newborn stars - a large collection of young stars and protostars called the Orion association. M42 is accompanied by a smaller detached nebula M43 (NGC 1982) which glows northeast of the nebula.

Here is a Hubble image of the Orion nebula:

1st Attempt at Prime Focus

2011-12-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

My first few attempts in astroimaging at prime focus using my Celestron Travel Scope 70 and Nikon D3100.

From Shades of Grey to Brilliant Red - December 10, 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

Last night was the second total lunar eclipse of the year visible from the Philippines. I was fortunate enough to witness both however I failed to observe all phases of the second due to poor weather. We were suppose to go to PAGASA observatory with the RTU students but my companions decided to call off the observation since the sky remained covered with thick clouds by the evening. It also rained when the penumbral stage began.

I waited outside after the rain hoping the skies would clear up, but it remained heavilly clouded. I kept up with the updates from observers in Negros via txt and they were blessed with superb sky conditions to see the eclipse and the meteors that streaked by.

Later, gaps began to emerge and the red moon was revealed. I rushed to set up the camera to image the red moon. I was able to see the eclipsed moon till the end with occasional covering of clouds. I also failed to use the TravelScope 70 as lens attachment since the tripod that came with it couldn't hold the weight when pointed at the zenith.

December 10, 2011 - Total Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

This coming Saturday, December 10, 2011, we will experience the 2nd Total Lunar Eclipse visible to the Philippines this year (A timely astronomical event for those still watching breaking dawn..hehe).

Here is the Eclipse time table provided by Fred Espenak on the Astroleague of the Philippines site:

Eclipse Phases	Time (PST)	Altitude	Azimuth
Moon enters Penumbra	07:33:32 pm	30 deg	72 deg E
Moon enters Umbra	08:45:42 pm	47 deg	72 deg E
Moon enters Totality	10:06:16 pm	64 deg	67 deg E
Maximum Totality	10:31:48 pm	70 deg	63 deg NE
Moon exits Totality	10:57:24 pm	75 deg	55 deg NE
Moon exits Umbra	12:17:58 am	80 deg	325 deg NW
Moon exits Penumbra	01:30:00 am	65 deg	294 deg NW

The reddening effect of the moon during the total lunar eclipse happens when the Moon enters the umbra, or the darker shadow of the Earth. When this happens, light from the Sun reaching the moon is blocked completely by the Earth, however the atmosphere of Earth acts as a lens which bends light into its component parts (spectra). The light that is bent most is the red part of the spectrum, which also explains the red-orange hue of the sky during sunrise and sunset. In contrast, blue wavelengths are the easiest component of light that is scattered - hence the blue colored sky as particles in the air scatter the blue light.

24-year old Fil-Am One of NASA's Youngest Engineers

2011-12-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

Gregory Galgana Villar III, a Filipino American, is one of the youngest verification and validation engineers for the Mars Science Laboratory Mission who worked with the Mars Curiosity Project that is set to arrive on Marrs on August 2012.

Read more from:
http://interaksyon.com/article/18797/24-year-old-fil-am-one-of-nasa-s-youngest-engineers

Filipino Entries in the InOMN Art Contest

2011-11-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

Please vote for the Filipino entries to the International Observe the Moon Night Art Contest.

Voting can be done at surveymonkey.

The contest goes with the theme "What Does the Moon Mean to You?" where Each submission should convey a personal connection to our nearest celestial neighbor, describe the significance of the Moon to your respective culture, or highlight one or more of the ways in which the Moon has inspired you.

Here are the Entries from the Philippines
Painting:
5 Day Old Moon. By (Me) Reuel Norman A. Marigza, Jr.

Poetry:
Orb of Light. By (Me) Reuel Norman A. Marigza, Jr.

Landscape Photography:
Peeking the Moon through the telescope. By Angel Constantine Bajana
Thin young Moon and two Inner Planets, Venus and Mercury . By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)
Old Lunar Crescent in the Southeastern Sky During Predawn. By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)
A Marvelous Apparition of a Blood-Colored or Deep Red Moon. By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)
October 22, 2011, a Nice Celestial Pairing of the Waning Cresent Moon and the Tiny Planet Mars. By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)

Astrophotography:
Largest Full Moon of 2011. By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)
Montage of Total Lunar Eclipse Photos. By Ma. Criselda Roque (Raven Yu)

Asteroid 2005 YU55 - No Harbinger of Doom

2011-11-07T00:52:00.000-08:00

Recent news about the approach of near Earth object (NEO) Asteroid 2005 YU55 this November 8-9 has brought around speculations of a doomsday scenario. People say it's going to impact Earth, and a lot of fuss is going about in the internet.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 WILL NOT IMPACT EARTH during its approach. The asteroid will miss us by a margin of 325,000 km (200,000 miles), which is 0.85 lunar distances from the Earth. The path of the asteroid doesn't bring it close enough to be pulled by Earth into a collision course.

The C-type asteroid is relatively large, nearly spherical, at 400 meters in diameter. It was discovered in 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch program near Tucson, Arizona. This NEO will be the closest approach of an object this big.

However, the approach of 2005 YU55 isn't even gonna be much of a visual sight since it will just appear as 1/4th arcseconds across (moon is 1800 arcsecs, which means you need a telescope to see it) and only with a visual brightness of magnitude 11. Not to mention its closest approach will be during daylight. Only radio telescopes can get high resolution imagery of the asteroid.

So, again there is nothing to worry about. :)

AstroEscapades

2011-11-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

During the long weekend I went up to my home town - Baguio City. I checked the weather for Baguio City using weatherspark which was introduced by Dr. Lee in the October meeting of the ALP. The weather was good for that week and my classmate in astronomy, Vanessa, was able to do some observations when she was in Baguio before me. Also, John Nassr from Baguio had wonderful images recently posted to his website.

Since the weather seemed to participate, I brought along my Celestron Travel Scope 70. I seriously put the word "Travel" in the TS 70 to the test for a stargazing tour with my relatives. The telescope is really lightweight and is easy to travel with in its custom backpack.

Aiming the TS 70 at Jupiter with my cousins.

My first stop was in Long-long, La Trinidad. It was a dark site with wonderful star studded skies (see previous post). At first we thought we weren't going to be able to see anything since it was cloudy, but knowing Baguio's skies we knew things change quickly (one minute it looks like it's gonna pour, the next it's crazy sunny). I was able to see the Milky Way after a long time and lots of faint stars that I have missed since moving to the highly urban Manila.

Imaging the stars with an Olympus E-510.

The following day, we went down to Aringay, La Union to visit our grandparents. My cousin knew a remote site by the sea where the skies were extremely dark. However, clouds began to gather as we set up the scope and camera to view Jupiter. I wanted to observe again the following night in the same site, but we had to wake up early to go to Clark. So I set up in the church however there were a lot of obstructions.

Crescent Moon imaged in Aringay.

Unfortunately, after we came from Clark, the following nights have been cloudy and I wasn't able to do any more observations. I was able to get some images of the moon and the sunset though.

Searching for dark sky sites is a must if you really want to see more during your observations. The problem of urban sites is that light pollution washes out the fainter stars and other celestial objects making them virtually invisible. Having access to dark sky sites is a key tool in observational astronomy. Since these sites are usually in remote places it would also be effective to have a grab-&-go scope or a scope that you can easily set-up and take with you on the go.

Our ride to the observing sites.

Waxing Crescent Moon

Sunset on the road home from Clark

Stargazing session - Oct 29, 2011

2011-10-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

I came up to Baguio yesterday after our professor decided to have a break instead of going all the way through the long weekend. I brought my Travel Scope 70 ("Beta") with me to observe with my cousins. We drove off to Long-long, a dark site in La Trinidad. The weather conditions was good enough to reveal a very beautiful star field.

I also was lucky enough to borrow an SLR for imaging, an Olympus E-510, however I wasn't familiar with the settings of the camera so I just imaged what I can. It turns out I need an T-rings for my TS70 to connect it with the cam, so I just went with the point and shoot approach.

Hyades Star Cluster. ISO 1600.

Jupiter and Galilean Moons. The moons appear to make Jupiter look like Saturn.

Orion.

Cassiopeia

Pleiades Star Cluster. ISO 800.

Crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury

2011-10-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here is an image of a conjunction of the waxing crescent moon, Venus, and Mercury, by Erika Valdueza.

Argument of Ignorance - The UFO

2011-10-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

Now that we're experiencing the Orionids and another possible satellite crash, somewhere in the world someone will be saying the word UFO!

When we see something unrecognizable in the sky some individuals think that "it's an alien spacecraft!" The UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object - with strict emphasis on the word UNIDENTIFIED! How can you say it's an alien spacecraft when your not sure what it is? This is the argument of Ignorance.

Most UFO sightings are actually mistaken objects, both man made and naturally present in nature. There is almost always an explanation to a UFO sighting. Here are some of my favorite UFO misconceptions:

man-made:

Chinese lanterns - now it's more common but there are still some who fall for it. Hot air allows these lanterns to fly into the sky and drift with the wind.
Weather Balloon - there are many variations to the weather balloon and usually it caries with blinking instruments.
Military and experimental aircraft - (not so common in PH) piloted or remote they can confuse you
Satellite transit - to the non-astronomy community you would really be boggled when you see a star suddenly grow bright and fly away then vanish, it's a satellite folks!
Flares - seriously? haha

natural:

Reflection - internal reflection on an airplane window or on camera lenses
Swamp gas - natural gas that has all sorts of eerie effects from refraction of light
Ball lightning - one of the rare and unexplained forms of lightning. Also known as St. Elmo's fire or santelmo.
Elves and sprites - other strange forms of lightning
Lenticular clouds - a cloud form resulting from air currents rising perpendicular to the cloud
Venus and Sirius - yeah, these two are the brightest points of light in the sky that baffles those who are unfamiliar with them
Meteors - especially when they blow up in mid-air or break apart into smaller meteor streaks

Most people are usually to lazy to do some research or assume too much. Beware of making the argument of ignorance. The sky is filled with many more eerie effects, it wouldn't hurt to learn more. Besides the more you learn, the more it works to your advantage. :)

Storms from the Sun

2011-10-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Sun - the source of light, the source of life.

I've recently began to take interest in solar astronomy since it is the easiest object to observe during these period of cloudy nights and rain. The sun is the closest star. It is a source of energy and it defines the seasons of the Earth. This 4.5 billion year old star is not just a static ball of hydrogen gas, but is a very lively and sometimes destructive object.

The sun goes under an 11 year solar cycle discovered in 1843 by the German astronomer Heinrich Schwabe. He noticed the the number of visible sunspots (cooler regions in the sun's surface) varied; lesser and almost absent during the solar minimum, and more visible during solar maximum. Whenever a solar maximum approaches the sun becomes more active and CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections) become more frequent.

My image of the huge Sunspot AR 1302. Image taken via MicroObservatory.

Recently, a large sunspot AR 1302 was observed. It caused several CMEs and X-class solar flares which caused geomagnetic storms in Earth. A Coronal Mass Ejection is the explosion of an enormous ball of electrified gas from the corona (outer solar atmosphere) which sends large amounts of plasma flying out into space at tremendously high speeds (up to 5 million mph). They are caused by the snapping of magnetic loops that were continuously stretched and twisted.

The electric currents that a CME generates produce geomagnetic storms on Earth, visible as auroras. Normally, when energetic particles from the Sun interact with particles from the atmosphere they get excited and form these beautiful lights at the pole regions. However, when huge amounts of energy, as that released in a CME, reacts with the Earth's magnetic field, they get to interact with more particles in the atmosphere and thus these auroras move to lower latitudes.

CMEs can alter the magnetic field in space and on the Earth. It can heat up and expand the atmosphere. It can also set off electrical surges in power lines and oil pipelines and can cause major blackouts, communications problems, and satellite damage.

Geomagnetic Storm. Image by Gordon McLellan. Sep 26, 2011. Pentax K-x with Tamron 10-24 @ 10mm, f5.6 iso 1600, exposure around 40 seconds.

Here are some useful links related to this post:

Aurora Images. "Severe" Sun Storm Brightens Skies.

Daily Sun Images and Movies. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory)

Solar Images from the Philippines. TV-101 blog page.

Stargazers Features the Stargazers: Randylyn Grapa

2011-10-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Stargazers Features the Stargazers!
Young stargazers, astronomy enthusiasts & amateur astronomers

Randylyn during a Moon-Jupiter conjunction

Our next stargazer feature is Randylyn Grapa, a dear friend of mine from Dumaguete City. She is a nursing student in Silliman University and works as an usherette/LACUU (Luce Auditorium Corps of Ushers and Usherettes) of the Silliman University Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium. Despite her busy schedule, she always finds time to look up into the sky. She really has a natural interest for the beauty of the universe. Here is her account:

Lights are now out, darkness slowly crawls in; its stargazing time-- my hobby, my stress-reliever, my favorite time. I find it amazing how all these massive galaxies contain in one universe, how dead stars continue to illuminate the night sky and can be seen lucidly even if they’re long since perished. I don’t really remember when I begun stargazing but all I remember was I used to stare at the big blue dark sky ever since I was still a child. Back when I was in elementary, I often ask my best friend the question, “Have you seen Venus last night?” I think those were the days I started to love more about the night sky. When twilight comes, adrenaline rush fills my veins as I catch the sunset before it sets to the other horizon and whenever I stare at the sunset, I feel breathless. Sunsets are the best and loveliest; they’re one-of-a-kind, amazing and breath-taking. A vast array of emotions ascends unto me every time I find my favorites (Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Orion) stitched in the night sky but often times I get dazzled and hypnotized looking at them. I just love how the moon casts my shadow especially when its full moon and I also love the crescent moon particularly when it is contrasted against the colorful twilight. Venus and Jupiter are majestic; they’re like diamonds floating in the sky and radiating their beauty and power. Orion is the first constellation I have come to know about; it reminds me of my parents and the nearness of Christmas.

Amazingly, never a day will I go to bed or even start studying without looking at the precious night sky. It feels like my day wouldn’t be complete if I couldn’t catch a glimpse of the night sky. It is as if I am totally attached to the night sky and the night sky is definitely a part of me. I know next to nothing but I am hoping to learn more about the newly discovered exoplanets.

Stargazers Features the Stargazers: Mark Arzadon

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Stargazers Features the Stargazers!
Young stargazers, astronomy enthusiasts & amateur astronomers

Our first stargazer feature is 15 year old Mark Claudel D. Arzadon from San Jacinto Pangasinan. Here is an account of his experiences:

I love astronomy since childhood. When I was 3 years old, my room was filled with luminous stars, planets, moon and galaxies bought by my parents for me and because of that I fell in love with celestial bodies

As I grew older, I became curious about it. I was 9 when I first reported it as a topic in our school (elementary) and I don't know why they were amazed about me because of my knowledge about it and I didn't even know how did made it.

I was 12 when my Dad bought a camera with long exposures and zoom, I just kept on experimenting on my Dad's cam while pointing at the stars, planets and the moon. At this time, I managed to take a picture of a landscape at night time with a background of stars.

I was 13 when I took a picture of a satellite for the very first time like ISS, Iridium and HST. It is also my first time to observe a solar eclipse but not that much.

I was 14 when I observed a solar eclipse in detail. It was also my first time to take a picture of planets like Jupiter, nebula like Orion Nebula, star clusters like Pleiades.

Now, I'm 15, I observed a lunar eclipse in full detail for the very first time. After Jupiter, I also took a photo of Venus, Saturn and Uranus in this year but it is not in high resolution..

Way back in 2007 I saw the very first fireball in my life. I didn't have any idea about it. It was the event that opened my eyes to gaze upon the skies. I was walking in the streets along with my little brother after buying snacks when I saw that bright fireball and I was stunned by its beauty.

It was on December 14, 2009 when I saw a spectacular fireball (yellowish, and like a bolide and disappeared after 10 seconds) while we were on the way home from the beach during twilight. I was gazing up while listening to ambient music when I saw it. It was sign of the coming Geminids.

December 28, 2009: 3rd Fireball sighting, when me, my dad, and my little brother were stargazing, we saw a silvery-white bright fireball just before Quadrantids, This is when I'm experimenting on Radio Propagation for meteors, I was listening to a blank frequency on the radio when i heard a "Ping" right after it. I learned that technique on spaceweather.

May 17, 2010: 4th fireball and the most spectacular
I will never forget this fireball in my life, I saw it when I was riding in a bicycle during twilight, when I saw it slowly falling down and it is a very bright Bolide and I fell down in the street but I kept on looking at it 'coz i know it is very rare!

I regularly observe meteor showers, especially Quadrantids, Lyrids, Aquarids, Persieds, Orionids, Draconids, Leonids, and Geminids. But the Top 4 best Meteor showers for me are: Geminids, Persieds, Aquarids and Quadrantids.

My favorite Constellations are Orion, Canis Major, Ursa Major, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Pegasus, Andromeda, Taurus, Gemini, Perseus, Auriga...I think that are the most familiar for me. My favorite Nebula/Clusters: Pleiades, Orion Nebula, Nebulas in Sagittarius, Cluster in the heart of C.Major, Andromeda Galaxy.

Mark doesn't just look at the night sky but at the sky as a whole - atmospheric phenomena. He does HDR photography, captures lightning, and does time-lapse photography. His photos have also been featured in the Earth Science Photo of the Day (EPOD).

Iridescent Pileus Cloud. EPOD 25July2010

Circumzenithal Arc. EPOD 1Oct2011

Stargazers Features the Stargazers!

2011-10-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

Stargazing is for everyone!

The beauty of the night sky inspires the mind of the young and old alike. People have looked into the heavens with awe and wonder for many centuries, putting astronomy among the oldest sciences. Inspired by the interest some friends have for the wonders of the universe, I decided to feature the young stargazers, astronomy enthusiasts, and amateur astronomers.

Keep posted for our featured stargazers. Our first feature will introduce Mark Arzadon, a high-school student from San Jacinto, Pangasinan.

Stargazing October 2011

2011-10-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights for October 2011. It's been a while since I posted a calendar of astronomical events in this blog so here I go again.

World Space Week

October 4-10. World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly (1999) selected the dates, Oct 4-10, to commemorate the first launch of the first man-made satellite (Sputnik 1; 4 Oct 1957), and the signing of the Treaty of Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (10 Oct 1967). This year's theme is "50 years of Human Space Flight."

Draconids Meteor Shower

October 8. This meteor shower is projected to have a sudden outburst this 2011. The highest rate for the Draconids was 1000/hr recorded on 1933. Since the meteors radiate from Draco, it is best to view this shower at latitudes where Draco is close to your Zenith (point above your head). For the Philippines, Draco doesn't approach our zenith, but will still be visible. However, the moon will be in its gibbous face so light from the moon will conceal the fainter meteor streaks.

La Luna del Cacciatore (Hunter's Moon)

October 12. Anyone who's an avid fan of the first AVP movie will surely recognize the phrase "Hunter's moon." The Hunter's moon is also known as the Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon. It is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. The name Hunter's moon came from the benefit of moonlight to hunter's in shooting migratory birds. Also, Native American Indians also are said to stalk and hunt prey during this time to prepare for the upcoming winter.

Comet Elenin's closest Approach

October 16. The comet's orbit will bring it within close to 22 million miles of Earth. The comet was discovered by Russian amateur astronomer Leonid Elenin in Dec. last year.

Solar Week

October 17-21. More on Solar Week.

Mercury-Venus Conjunction

October 20. Conjunction, in astronomy, happens when two objects are apparently close to each other in the night sky. On October 20 watch the sunset and look for two bright points of light close together.

Orionid Meteor Shower

October 22. Coming from the same meteoroid stream as the Eta Aquarids, the Orionids belong to the debris left by Halley's Comet. It's zenithal hourly rate (rate when the radiant/source is close to the zenith) is 25 per hour. The source will be easy to locate, just look for the iconic Orion's belt. * * *

Jupiter at Opposition

October 29. A planet in opposition is in it's closest approach to Earth. This is when the planet will be exactly opposite to the position of the Sun in the sky, and will be most suitable for observing.

Urban Astronomy

2011-09-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

with my Astromates observing at an Urban location

Dark skies are best for doing astronomy. With limited light pollution and air pollution, you can bring out the beauty of the universe through a star studded sky. Now that I am based in Quezon City, I no longer have the advantage of observing in sites with clear dark skies. However, there is still a lot observational astronomy that can be done in urban locations.

There are some periods & locations in urban sites where you can observe depending on the sky quality at a given time. Dr. Jesus Rodrigo Torres, professor of astronomy at RTU and member of the IAU, designed an urban astronomy scale (being used by NASA) for which you can categorize the night sky.

He categorized the sky conditions as follows:
I. Best sky quality with the lights from the residential and commercial centers subdued; the air is satisfactorily transparent; a hint of the Milky Way can be glimpsed in the Scorpius-Sagittarius region; moonless and cloudless.

II. Good sky quality with the air being satisfactorily transparent, but lights in commercial and residential areas still on; moonless and cloudless.

III. Moderately poor sky quality with high or fast-moving clouds revealing patches of transparent sky, but light in commercial and residential centers is subdued; Moon in crescent phase.

IV. Poor sky quality with high or fast-moving clouds; lights in commercial and residential centers are still on; Moon in crescent phase.

V. Bad sky quality with haze; lights in commercial and residential centers still on; limiting magnitude is +3.0; Moon in quarter phase.

VI. Very bad sky quality with haze or clouds almost covering the entire sky; heavy air and light pollution; Moon first quarter or bigger; limiting magnitude ranging from +2 and +3.

Under each category there are still a number of things you can observe. For a category VI, you can still observe the moon, planets and bright single or double stars.

We were just observing last night till dawn under category IV-V skies. We were able to observe Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, Pleiades, Draco, Sirius and also the thin waning crescent moon (28 day old moon). We observed using a Travel Scope 70, and a 10x50 UpClose binoculars.


Thin Waning Crescent Moon. Photo Taken via afocal method with a Travel Scope 70 (10mm eyepiece) and Sony DSC-W350.Photo by Lieza Crisostomo.

Travel Scope 70 Review

2011-09-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired a Celestron Travel Scope 70 from Cutting Edge as an early Christmas gift from my father. It was one of three affordable grab-and-go scopes sold - the other being the Firstscope and the Travel Scope 50 (both less 4k; and the scope at 4470). The Travel Scope 50 had bad reviews so I avoided it. I wanted to get the C90 Maksutov but it was out of the available budget range..hehe. This will be my 2nd refractor, the other being a Tasco 2-inch(?).

The Travel Scope series portable telescope is specially designed for traveling. Both the 50 and 70 are compact refractors suitable for terrestrial and astronomical observing.

The TS 70 has a 70mm aperture in a compact body (17 inches long). It comes with a full size photographic tripod, a 5x24 finderscope, two eyepieces (20mm and 10mm - nothing special) and custom backpack for traveling. It also comes with TheSky x First Light edition. The scope only weighs 3.3lbs making it very easy to carry around. Also, the optics are fully coated. The assembly was quite easy too, I didn't even use the manual (well, that could just be experience speaking).

The tripod was quite shifty though. Try touching the focusing knob while viewing a bright star and it will dance to your touch. It's more stable when collapsed to it's lowest height - more like a table-top scope like the Firstscope. Also, it seems like the tripod couldn't hold the whole weight when pointed towards the zenith. I think the tripod is the biggest let-down. Anyways, you can't expect much from the mount for the price.

I wasn't able to observe much during my first attempt due to poor observing conditions but I was able to view clearly the Double-Double in Lyra, and low-magnitude stars in the tail of Scorpius in a wide field of view. On my second attempt, I had Jupiter in sight and was amazed at the amount of detail I could see. I could make out the bands of Jupiter and saw all 4 Galilean moons. Online reviews say they can see the Trapezium with it, I have yet to test that for myself.

Oh, yeah! It isn't written down in the features but the focuser on the TS 70 has a T-thread on it for cameras. I wonder why this key feature is not mentioned? Just make sure to change the tripod before attempting to attach a weighty SLR.

Although the magnifications attainable (with the given eyepiece) are lesser than the Travel Scope 50 (especially since it comes with a Barlow lens), the TS 70 has a higher aperture for higher maximum useful magnification. Therefore, upgrade your eyepiece and you get better images.

Basically, you can just replace the eyepiece and the tripod with better ones and you get a great scope at a low price! ^_^

Philippine Planetariums

2011-09-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

When I was in grade 3 at Baguio city, I remember the mobile planetarium that visited our school. This is one of the thing that fostered my interest for astronomy. Planetarium shows are wonderful, for kids and adults alike. Here is a list of the planetarium's I know of in the Philippines (except for the mobile one whose name I could not recall):

The Manila Planetarium/National Museum Planetarium

PAGASA Planetarium

SkyXplore SpaceDome Planetarium

Digistar Planetarium

My Astronomy Classmates at the Planetarium

2011-09-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

After our class in RTU, we headed to MOA to visit the Planetarium at the Nido Science Discovery Center. We were supposed to go to Binangonan, Rizal for a stargazing session but due to poor weather conditions we had to cancel. My fellow astronomy classmates in RTU's graduate school were with me in watching the planetarium show and checking out the exhibits. We intended to see the 'Cosmic Safari' and 'The Dawn of the Space Age' in relation to our Life in the Universe class but were only able to see the latter. We were joined by a group of small children (in a field-trip of some sort) who were actively making comments on the planetarium show. We explored the rest of the exhibits after the planetarium show and had our picture taken beside the Sesame Street characters that was part of another planetarium show (They have many other shows, perhaps I'll make a separate post for the planetarium).

The Messier Objects

2011-08-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

Since I’m stuck with binoculars these days I decided to write about one of the beautiful binocular objects – the Messier objects. In the 1700s, the French astronomer Charles Messier sought out to search for comets. In his search he encountered fuzzy-looking objects which he considered a nuisance. To avoid confusing them for comets, he made a catalog of these objects. He charted 103 Messier objects in his catalog which was published in 1781. What Messier considered a nuisance became more known than his comet discoveries. This catalog of deep-sky objects are some of the sky’s best star clusters (both open and globular), nebulae, and external galaxies.

Binoculars have their own advantage when viewing the messier objects. As an example, when we viewed the Orion Nebula through the C8 it all we could see is the Trapezium – a multiple system of newborn stars forming a trapezoid at the heart of M42. The larger nebulosity of the M42 is not visible through the C8. Binoculars are also adequate to show many individual stars in some of the open clusters. In other cases it would appear as a sort of blur of light. Higher magnifications can resolve the fainter stars. Globular clusters usually appear as a patch of light.

Here are some of the messier objects that I’ve imaged via the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network, a network of automated telescopes that can be controlled online:

M31 Andromeda

M27 Dumbell Nebula

M16 Eagle Nebula

M81

M42 Orion Nebula

M33 Pinwheel Galaxy

M45 Pleiades (Seven Sisters) Star Cluster

M57 Ring Nebula

M20 Trifid Nebula

M51 Whirlpool

M1 Crab Nebula

M8 Lagoon Nebula

*NOTE: The human eye is not sensitive enough to see the colors of the nebulae and galaxies even through a big telescope. The colors are brought out using filters during long-exposure photographs.

Binocular Astronomy 21 Aug 2011

2011-08-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

I took advantage of the clear skies tonight after days of cloudy skies. I set out to view as many objects as I can with my Celestron UpClose binoculars. All I had to struggle with was the light pollution from my observing site in Cubao and the fact that I had colds. Nevertheless, clear skies don't come as often.

I trained my binoculars for the constellation Scorpius. My first thought was I need to see the M7 (Ptolemy's cluster/NGC 6475) which remained elusive in my past observation attempts in Cubao. However, I found myself observing the Scorpius Jewel Box (NGC 6231) first. It remained beautiful despite being washed out by light pollution. Then I also caught a glimpse of NGC 6242 which appeared faint. Finally I turned to the position of M7. Luckily I was able to find it with little difficulty. They appeared beautifully as faint fuzzy stars. Next, I moved up and also observed the Butterfly nebula (M6/NGC 6405). I then moved to Sagittarius and found the Lagoon Nebula (M8/NGC 6523) appearing as a fuzzy patch. Moving to the west I came across the bright Arcturus (Alpha Bootis). I turned north to the summer triangle and focused on Cygnus. NGC 6871 appeared very faint, likewise with M29.

I haven't taken binocular astronomy seriously before, and I realized what a waste it was since I had good observing sites in Negros. However, I would still love to have my telescope around. I hope the skies continue to clear up from now on.

Summer Triangle

Celestron UpClose

2011-08-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

Celestron UpClose 10x50 Binoculars

As part of our Observation 1 in RTU's Diploma in Astronomy, we were required to purchase binoculars suited for celestial viewing. Our group decided to go for the Celestron UpClose 10x50 Binoculars which were available in Cutting Edge stores. If you plan to purchase one, I suggest you test them first - due to the lack of stock, my first purchase had the optics misaligned, however, the personel of Cutting edge were very helpful in replacing my unit.

I tested my binoculars this evening (Aug 8, 2011) due to the visibility of the 9 day old moon. The view of the moon was remarkable compared to my old binoculars that, unfortunately, has been damaged for unknown reasons. The UpClose provides a fine details on the lunar surface and remarkable detail on the terminator.

Unfortunately, I am unsuccessful in locating the Messier and NGC objects due to poor urban sky conditions and fast moving clouds. I am observing in Cubao, Quezon City with buildings and street light obstructing my view. If classified according to Dr. Torres' Urban Astronomy Scale it would be a type V. The limiting magnitude gave me a hard time finding my way in the night sky compared to the clear dark skies of Negros Oriental where I used to observe during my undergrad.

I was first able to make out Lyra and Cygnus, then using star hopping which I've learned before I was able to locate the other constellations like Aquila, Scorpius, and Sagittarius. I particularly tried to focus on seeing M7 (Ptolemy's cluster) but had a hard time making it out.

Nevertheless, it was a good first try with my new binoculars. I expect it too keep me busy for the mean time while waiting for my telescope to be brought back to Manila from Dumaguete.

Ad Astra per Aspera!

Why We Have A Moon

2011-08-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, in one of our classes, our professor was narrating an experience he had when he was teaching in New Era. He asked in his class, "why do we have a moon?" and a student angrily replied "because God put it there, is there any other reason?!" As a religious individual and a man of science, I have to say the reply was over-board and close minded. However,I'm not going to discuss how a lack of understanding of science and faith can cause a gap between the two. On the other hand, it crossed my mind the following night on how our professor could have dealt with it without clashing ideas with a close minded individual.

In my mind our professor could have answered, "yes I agree, however God makes everything happen for a reason, so, what do you think is the reason why we have a moon?" This way, you can hurl back the question to get on with the topic and at the same time avoid the argument (certainly the student can't refute that God has a purpose for everything).

So why do we have a moon?

In a scientific point of view, life as we know it might not have existed without the moon. We probably wouldn't recognize the Earth if it existed without a moon. The first important contribution of the moon to Earth happened during the formation of the moon. When the Earth was forming a planetesimal (proto-planet) the size of Mars, known as Thea, collided with Earth. during the collision, part of Thea's iron core merged with the Earth making it more massive than it was. The impact debris later coallesed to form the moon. This theory of moon formation became known as the giant impactor theory or the 'big splat'. Because the Earth gained more mass, it is much suitable to maintain internal heat which contributed to the formation of Earth's magnetic field - our sheild against harmful UV radiation of the sun. Without our magnetic field, Earth's atmosphere might have been stripped away by the Sun a long time ago.

Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Neil Commins, in his book "What if the Moon Didn't Exist?" narrated the hellish world the Earth was before the collision:

Throughout the millions of years before the planetesimal struck, storms swirled ceaselessly on the moonless earth. Lightning lit the barren landscape, while the air reverberated with deafening thunder claps. volcanoes emitted rivers of lava and clouds of gas and dust. earthquakes shook the earth's surface as the magma (molten rock) in its interior clawed at the bottom of the planet's thin crust. At that time the earth was bone-dry. Any water on its surface was immediately vaporized by the heat stored in the rocks, making the planet utterly inhospitable and lifeless.

Another benefit we experience out of the moon's presence has to do with gravity. The gravitational force between the moon and the Earth is most evident in the tides. These tides also slow down the Earth's rotation. The slower rotation rate has been essential in shaping the life cycles of all plants and animals. The tides also dictate the reproductive process of many marine life. Should the Earth rotate faster,storms on the planet would be more powerful and more frequent. Because of the strong winds, existing plantlife woul need to stay low on the ground and securely cling to the rocks. Leaves would need greater structural connections. Phototropism would also be in jeopardy if the Earth spinned too fast. Majority of plant life turn their leaves toward the sun in order to maximixe the gathering of energy - this would be difficult in a rapidly spinning Earth.

Our stable axis of rotation is also a result of the tidal forces between the Earth and the moon. Without it, we wouldn't have the stable seasons and the planet will experience sudden massive climate shifts as a result of the shifting of our axis. This means deserts will suddenly be frozen lands and vice versa. These rapid changes in climate will seriously hinder the evolution of life.

There are many more contributions the moon plays to the existence of life on Earth (discussing all would make this article too long). The above mentioned are only a few. Putting them all into consideration, you could answer the earlier question with "God gave us a moon so that we can have life."

AstroArt

2011-07-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

Aside from astronomy, I am, also engaged in visual arts. I'm currently getting fond of doing Astronomical Art (or space art as some may prefer). My previous post of paintings can be found here: http://blogstargazers.blogspot.com/2010/01/astroart-by-norman.html
http://theskyabove22.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/norman-marigzas-astronomy-art-attack/

Astronomical Art is a means in which visual artists can merge the science of astronomy with art. It isn't merely depicting a starry landscape with planets but also trying to combine actual data to give an accurate representation. Some artists choose to call "space art" paintings with a spaceship of some sort. Often, you would see artist impressions on the covers of astronomy magazines or books. That's because astronomical art has the advantage of going beyond the visual wavelengths.

Here are some of my latest works mostly done with acrylic:

finger paint montage of the solar system (acrylic)

a comic merging of the telescope known as Astroscan to the popular Plants vs Zombies

Blood moon

coronal loops in the photosphere

the Hayabusa spacecraft

IC 342

an aerial view of Olympus Mons

Pleiades cluster

Primeval worlds during planetary formation filled with debris and planetesimals

the Ring Nebula in Lyra

Sagittarius

Star-crossed lovers

a fictional image of an astronaut planting in Mars in hopes of terraforming the planet

instead of a Schmidt-Cassegrain on a fork-mount, I replaced it with a head to depict an individual's amazement for stargazing

a space art painting of an interstellar ship approaching a star

depiction of the 12 zodiac constellations used in the pseudo-science astrology

Little Red Shinning Moon - An Eclipse Experience

2011-06-16T00:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful experience for me since I was able to observe the first Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011. I was one of the participants in the RED MOON event at the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center (SDC) in the SM Mall of Asia. The event began with a film showing in the Planetarium at the SDC entitled Passport to the Universe. It was my first time at the SDC and I enjoyed the beautiful planetarium experience. Following the film showing was the lecture discussion by Dr. Armando Lee, the first Philippine produced astronomer and proprietor of the Astrocamp Observatory. Dr. Lee is a contact of mine in Astronomy via the web and it was the first time we met face-to-face. He even recognized me and called me by name which kinda made me feel very fortunate that evening. The lecture discussion covered details of the eclipse, why it happens and what we expect to see. After the lecture we were served pizza and drinks before proceeding to the Astrocamp Observatory in the SM By the Bay (San Miguel Boulevard). The Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) were already assembling their gear there to do some serious astrophotography. Some of them were contacts and facebook friends who, like Dr. Lee,I was able to meet face-to-face for the very first time. One of them was James Kevin Ty, president of ALP who was also able to recognize me. Also members of the media were there to cover the event; first was Bandila from ABS-CBN, followed by HERO, and then GMA.
I was even given a short interview by HERO, unfortunately I don't have cable to see it. While this was happening in MOA I was also in keeping contact with other observers: Erika Valdueza in Quezon City, and Greg Morales (proffesional photographer) and Nina Abiquibil (BS Physics) in their respective sites in Negros
I was also able to chat with Dr. Lee and his wife about astronomy, observing experiences, astrophotography and the dealings of a observatory such as the Astrocamp. Dr. Lee even allowed me to teach a bit of stargazing tricks to members of the SDC.

Aside from the wonderful RED MOON event, I was also able to purchase Firefly Books' MOONWATCH, a complete starter set for lunar observations. I got it in Booksale for only 40Php right after I got the ticket for the eclipse. Talk about coincidence and good fortune, God is so good! During the night of the REDMOON while waiting for the event to start, my heart's MVP started acting up from the excitement. I'm glad everything turned out alright.

We were able to have good sky conditions of the eclipse except during moonset around 10 degrees from the horizon. It was my first time to observe all the stages including the penumbral stage which is less visible. This isn't my first total lunar eclipse observation but so far this was the best! Like what D. Levy says in his book, don't keep a "been there, done that" attitude in astronomy because each observing experience is unique. Each new observation, especially with a new group, is a new learning experience - Astronomy, I love it!

photo by Greg Morales from Negros

with Dr. Armando Lee, giving my astropainting to him.

Moonwatch set at 40Php

24oras: Hi-tech na paraan ng pagtuturo ng astronomy - Video - GMA News Online - The go-to site for Filipinos everywhere - Latest Philippine News

2011-06-12T01:03:00.000-07:00

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For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Dr. Dante L. Ambrosio

2011-06-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

How often does one's culture reflect in the heavens? How have the stars been witness to the life of those they share their light with?

Dr. Dante L. Ambrosio was one who searched for the answers to such questions by looking into influences of culture in Astronomy here in the Philippines. Dr. Ambrosio was a professor of the Department of History at UP-Diliman. He responded to the appeal of PAGASA to compile local legends about celestial objects for educational purposes during the celebration of the IYA 2009. He presented a study of how the Badjaos in Tawi-tawi used the stars and constellations for daily living. The Badjaos knew the stars by the name Mamahi. They also had different asterisms - informal constellations, named after things they use and see.

It is sad to hear that Dr. Ambrosio passed away last June 4. His work in Ethnoastronomy helps us know how the stars have influenced the different cultures in the Philippines as it has influenced other nations with their myths and legends. I may not have known him personally, but reading about his work in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and having used it in my thesis's review of related literature, has added to my amazement of the night sky.

To Dr. Ambrosio, may you rest in peace and take your place amongst the heavens.

Making Your Way to Professional Astronomy in the Philippines

2011-06-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Astronomy is one of the sciences where almost any one can get fascinated with. There are many who just gaze at the night sky in complete wonder and amazement. Sad to say, astronomy education in the Philippines is not that known. One of the reasons behind this is the disadvantage in the Philippines of the separation of all the islands in the archipelago, which in turn makes it hard for information to go around. As I began taking my steps to professional astronomy I realized that very few people are aware of an astronomy degree here in the Philippines.

Rizal Technological University is a school in Mandaluyong that offers astronomy education. They have three programs - an undergrad degree in BS Astronomy Technology, a grad school Diploma in Astronomy, and an MS Astronomy. They are the first and only school in the Philippines to offer astronomy (I believe I have a post on this which I will check later). I heard about this via the Astronomical League of the Philippines.

Being in an archipelago, you have to keep track of the latest in Astronomy and how to go about it via the internet. Through the web, you can make contact with the different Philippine Astronomy clubs. You can check them or the PAGASA web site for news on what's in the night sky. For those who pursue astronomy outside Luzon, specifically Manila, you may have a hard time getting in touch with these groups, however keep note that you have better sky conditions. Light pollution and pollution for that matter is a hindrance from the big city so don't be down - you can actually see more than we want.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011

2011-05-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

On June 16, 2011 there will be a total lunar eclipse visible to the Philippines. This is one of the two total lunar eclipses that will be visible in the Philippines, the other being on the 10th of Dec. The moon will pass almost exactly in front of the Earth's shadow and thus a totality of 1 hour and 40 mins. However, the moon will set before the moon exits the umbra.

Below is the time line of the eclipse phases predicted by Fred Espenak as provided by the Astronomical League of the Philippines

	TIME (PST)	ALTITUDE	AZIMUTH
Moon Enters Penumbra	01:24:27am	45 deg	212 deg S
Moon Enters Umbra	02:22:57am	37 deg	225 deg S
Moon Enters Totality	03:22:29am	26 deg	234 deg SW
Maximum Totality	04:13:44am	16 deg	240 deg SW
Moon Exits Totality	05:02:42am	06 deg	244 deg SW
Moonset	05:30:00am	00 deg	246 deg SW
Moon Exits Umbra (not visible)	06:02:14am	----------	-----------
Moon Exits Penumbra (not visible)	07:00:41am	----------	-----------

Comet Hyakutake at BenCab Museum

2011-05-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

While I was studying in Dumaguete, my cousin tagged me in one of her photos in facebook. It was a picture of an astronomy related painting that she took from the BenCab Museum in Baguio City. When we came home to Baguio I finally got the chance to see the wonderful paintings in BenCab's museum. Being a visual artist as well I was really fascinated! Finally I got to see the painting - it was entitled Comet Hyakutake, an oil painting by Elmer Borlongan. Since I began doing astronomy paintings I enjoyed seeing other artistic creations of space.

Elmer Borlongan (below) is a fine arts graduate from the University of the Philippines and an artist awardee of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Thin Waxing Crescent

2011-05-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

After seeing the sunset from Baguio, we went down to Baguio's athletic bowl where they were holding the night market. I was still familiarizing myself with my aunt's camera settings for low-light photography by taking shots of SM and Baguio Cathedral. Later, I noticed the crescent moon setting in the west so I went across the field to get a better view. The earthshine on the moon's dark side was clear from my view.

The Setting Sun from SM City Baguio

2011-05-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

We were taking a walk one afternoon in Baguio (May 5, 2011), when we decided to stop by SM. We decided to rest in the veranda on the 4th floor when we saw the sun setting amongst the clouds over the view of Baguio city. Luckily, I had my aunt's camera (Sony DSC-H50) with me so I tested it out.

the Sun's disk peaking out of the clouds. Sony DSC-H50 red filter

fiery sun with built-in red filter of the Sony DSC-H50

Waning Crescent

2011-05-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

I got up at around 6:30 AM PST to take out the garbage here in Quezon hill, Baguio City, when on the way up back to the house I saw the crescent moon. Later that morning when the moon was around 80 degrees overhead I borrowed my Aunt's camera - a Sony DSC-H50. It was already bright so I couldn't capture finer detail from the moon, and I wasn't familiar with the features of the camera.

Orb of Light

2011-04-15T05:58:00.001-07:00

Glued above the sky at night
Glowing orb of shining light
Sweet reflection of Sun's rays
Changing faces day-by-day

Blemished scars of meteors fall
Seen in shadowed crater walls
Holds the story of time past
In its surface record cast

In Earth's shadow masked in blood
Coat of fear, drives people mad
Hide the Sun through full eclipse
Fill the day in darkness bliss

Pull the seas up with your tides
In your light let starlight hide
And high above, let ring of light
Surround you in such glorious sight

To the Next Stargazers of Silliman University

2011-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

During my stay in the Physics Department of Silliman University, I have been to familiarize myself with the use of different telescopes. I experienced troubleshooting, getting rust and dust all over my clothes, and putting up and taking down the telescopes. I have taken a look into these telescopes with excitement and with each new thing I learned, my interest in astronomy grew.

Over the years I have learned about the different mounts and optical designs for the telescopes. I have gotten familiar with which eyepiece to use for a particular target and how to focus to the sharpest image possible. I studied the optics of the telescopes, how to get their magnification and all.

With the added knowledge I gained, I have been able to share it with my fellow BS Physics students. I am glad whenever their interest seems to be perked up. Also, I have enjoyed sharing astronomy during stargazing sessions to students (irregardless of course), church mates and friends who always want to learn more about the wonders we can share under the night sky. The nights I spent in the Astronomy and Meteorology Observation Deck during stargazing sessions and data gathering will always be remembered. I am thankful for being able to spend time to look at the stars in awe.

To the future stargazers, astronomy enthusiasts and amateur astronomers of SU, keep it up! You have learned a couple of things from me and I am sure you will learn more in the future as you familiarize yourself with the night sky and the telescopes. Our library has a wonderful collection of Astronomy books which has helped me in my thesis and in the Astronomy Olympiad. What you may not know now you are sure to learn through experience. God bless and clear skies!

ScienceCasts: Super Moon

2011-03-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

LUNAR HOCUM

2011-03-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

Recently, my mom is bothering me about some news of a so called "super moon" thingy majig that her Facebook friends have been talking about. They say it's going to cause disasters and all sort of stuff and now with the occurrence of the tsunami in Japan I'm sure they're gonna spill out more assumptions, which to say, no offense, is nonsense!

So here I am to correct this hocum with scientific facts about the moon.

The moon as it orbits around the Earth will eventually come closer and also farther because of its elliptical orbit. The closest position of the moon to the Earth is called a Lunar Perigee. The Farthest position of the moon from the Earth is called a Lunar Apogee. While it is true that the gravitational pull between the moon and the Earth causes a tidal bulge, the Perigee position will not cause it to create the devastating scenarios that are spread through rumors.

Now what about the Tsunami in Japan, well the moon is not even over Japan at the time of the tsunami nor was it in its Perigee position. It is pure coincidence. The Earthquake doesn't relate with the moon's so called relative closeness to the Earth.

From POPSCI it says:
Past supermoons have coincided with natural disasters--the Indonesian earthquake in 2005, Australian flooding in 1954--but scientists note that those are unrelated, more likely than not. Says John Bellini, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey: "A lot of studies have been done on this kind of thing by USGS scientists and others. They haven't found anything significant at all." The tides will pull a bit higher, but earthquakes are almost completely unaffected and volcanoes are not likely to show unusual behavior. John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, said "Practically speaking, you'll never see any effect of lunar perigee. It's somewhere between 'It has no effect' and 'It's so small you don't see any effect.'"

In reality, the Lunar orbit is expanding outwards. The moon as it revolves around the Earth slowly moves away into space. This means that when the moon approaches it's Perigee it is still further out into space compared to when it was before. Proof of which is the occurrence of annular solar eclipses which means that the moon is further out and their angular diameter is not big enough to cover the sun completely.
So, scientifically speaking, there is no way that the moon caused the tsunami.

Not understanding something and spreading false facts about it can cause confusion. The Mars hoax for example where they say that Mars will appear as large as the moon in the night sky is theoretically impossible. We have to be careful about the things we share.

Here is an additional sight you can view written by an actual scientist:
Hudson Valley Geologist

2011 National Astronomy Week

2011-02-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

Aside from February being the love month, we are also celebrating the National Astronomy Week (NAW). This is a week long celebration of different Astronomy societies in the country. This year, the theme is: Astronomy Transforming the Culture of Learning Toward Nation Building.

The NAW was conceptualized by Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson of PAS. It was formalized as a celebration by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos in Presidential Proclamation No. 130.

To know more about the NAW you can check the following sites:
Philippine Astronomical Society
Astronomical League of the Philippines
Philippine Astronomy

Geminids Again! :)

2010-12-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

This is the first meteor shower I observed and I'm lucky that it was the best. The Geminids meteor shower has always been very promising. The Junior Philippine Physics society will be organizing a public observation for that event. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We will be open on the 13th and the 14th.

The annual Geminids meteor shower will reach its peak in the night of the 14th. The meteor shower will radiate (or appear to come from) the constellation Gemini. Normally, you would be able to see around 60 per hour during good sky conditions when Gemini is low, however when it is at the zenith (point directly above you) you will get to see (+=)100 meteors per hour.

Record the beginning and end times of each of your observing periods to the minute. For those enthusiast meteor observer, you can report your observation using the methods and report forms at the International Meteor Organization site, www.imo.net.

Astrophotography Online

2010-11-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

Orion Nebula

If you want to try astrophotography but have no access to equipment then this post will help you.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics developed a MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network. This allows users online to log on to the use of the telescopes to take an image of a selected celestial body. The MicroObservatory is a network of 5 automated telescopes that can be accessed on-line.

The MicroObservatory is designed to allow students and teachers nationwide to investigate the wonders of the deep sky from their classrooms. The project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (RED 9454767), with additional in-kind contributions from Eastman Kodak Company and Apple Computer.

Those who log on are responsible for taking their own images. This means focusing the telescope, selecting exposure times, filters, and other parameter. This helps the users get a feel of familiarity with the use of the telescopes. MicroObservatory has a wide range of targets including solar system objects, stars and nebulae, and also galaxies and deep-sky objects.

Images then can be edited by the user using a program that can be downloaded from the sight, or via other photo editing software.

Blackout

2010-11-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

Last night, on my way home from the midweek service, a power line popped taking out all the lights in the area. It was relatively dark and I looked up to see the stars. I looked at Pastor Ditz recalling that I owe a stargazing session with her dormers at the Davao cottage. I told her "walang ilaw, sakto pang stargazing." She agreed excitedly telling her dormers that we will have a stargazing session at our house. At home I clamored blindly for my telescope in the dark. I rushed to set-up my scope outside with only a candle to light up my set-up. Eventually I was able to put it up and set it directly to Jupiter. I gave them a brief introduction of the telescope and Galileo's first look at Jupiter. They were naturally curious of what they saw.

The lights came back on and clouds started to cover the fainter stars, I wasn't able to show them more also because of the obstruction of trees in the area. Anyways, I promised them that I would take them to the department's astrodeck during the coming meteor shower.

Share the Stars

2010-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

One of the good Christian traits is sharing. In science, "the process of discovery is not complete until results can be shared with others" (Keck Observatory).

Last October 14-16, I attended a youth retreat of our church. As part of the organizers, I decided to add stargazing to our list of activities. I brought my telescope along since most of the youth have already expressed an enthusiasm for stargazing. Some have even made it a point to text me whenever a bright star appears in the night sky. I was able to show them the moon, Jupiter, the Pleiades (seven sisters). I wasn't able to show more due to obstructing clouds and a fever.

I have shared my love for astronomy to my church friends and they have shared the enthusiasm with others. I recall even in one of the stargazing sessions of the physics department that one of them came back 3 times, each time bringing someone new.

Sharing astronomy to the world is fun. You get to make people wonder what else is out there. When people wonder then they become more interested. It's a wonderful way to promote astronomy. I recall, before, during the IYA that there were even those who were 'dinumog ng street children' during one of their side walk telescoping events. The science of astronomy is loved by all, not only the academically inclined but also by common folk. You'll be amazed at the individuals who get caught up in the sharing of astronomy.

The other night, I was at Mabinay attending a Church workers assembly, I was reading a fully illustrated book entitled Smithsonian's Intimate Guide to the Cosmos. A pastor who was sitting beside me wanted to take a look. I've only began to read that book but he was already asking questions about all the pictures. We discussed Mars rovers, landscape of Venus, black holes, the giant impactor theory, solar sails, etc.

Astronomy is fascinating!

Alpha

2010-10-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's good to finally sit down and write here again :)

Well, this post is about a telescope I call Alpha. I'm surprised I wasn't able to write anything about it yet. I purchased the scope from Allen Yu using my prize money from the IYA 2009 National Olympiad.

My scope is a Skywatcher Explorer 150PL telescope (Black Diamond). Although I don't have the equatorial mount, I still have the mount built by Allen.

I have used this scope in the physics department's stargazing, and am very pleased with the results. I'm beginning to favor this scope over the departments C80 that I usually operate.

Over the past two months, I wasn't able to use it. I was only able to use it on Tuesday, and was I lucky.. I was able to use it on Jupiter (for the first time) and also on the elusive comet 103P/Hartley.

A lunar image taken via the Explorer 150PL via afocal method


First Look - astronomy enthusiast Princess Rabino gets her first look at Alpha

Brightest Comet of 2010 Coming Our Way

2010-09-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Comet 103P or most commonly known as Comet Hartley will make its nearest approach this October. It will be the brightest comet of the year 2010. Comet 103P/Hartley was discovered by Australian astronomer Malcolm Hartley in 1986. The comet has a period of 6.5 years, traveling just outside the orbit of Jupiter to nearly Earth's distance (1 AU) from the Sun. The year 2010 marks its 4th return since it was discovered, and this year is said to be its best so far.

The comet will be visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (around mag 5) as it treks a path along the constellation Cassiopea moving southeast to the constellation Gemini. Use of a binoculars will give a good view of the comet, and telescopes would be able to reveal details. Here is an image of Comet Hartley's trajectory from astronomy.com:

The comet can actually be spotted now (Sept) in Cassiopea. On October 9 it will appear in the foreground of the double cluster in Perseus. On October 20 it will be in its closest distance to the Earth and will appear in its maximum brightness, unfortunately the full moon is on Oct 23 meaning the almost full moon will make the comet less conspicuous.

In November, NASA's EPOXI [Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation] mission will fly past the comet and return stunning images of the comet nucleus. NASA approved the retargeting of the EPOXI for a flyby on Oct. 11., after the initial target (Comet Boethin) could not be found.

For more information on the Comet, you can visit:
astronomy.com
sky and telescope
national geographic

Observer Rolando Ligustri remotely photographed 103P/Comet Hartley 2 on September 6th (Universal Time) using a 10-inch f/3.4 Takahashi Epsilon 250 astrographic telescope.

InOMN

2010-09-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Saturday will be the International Observe the Moon Night. It is a global event dedicated to honor our efforts in studying and observing the moon. It is inspired by people like us, ordinary people who takes a keen interest in the observance of the night sky.

Building a career path in astronomy

2010-07-13T22:52:00.001-07:00

Working with the telescopes of the physics department, I have been able to build up the interest of students to astronomy. Some students even say, “Let’s shift to physics” after seeing what we do with the scopes. Although it is very much interesting, a lot of students are still intimidated by the science and math side of such a course. Most of the time people just don’t really know how to go about in astronomy.

For the Philippines, astronomy is not well known – unfortunately. Also, being in an archipelago affects the flow of information so people outside Manila have lesser chances of knowing about astronomy.

I’ve been interested in astronomy since elementary school that I’ve decided to take astronomy when I get to college. Since there was no BS Astronomy course offered anywhere that I knew I took the next big thing – Physics. In astronomy (professional) you have to have a good background in physics, also you should be good in math or in database programming, so taking physics was a logical step.

Fortunately my professors at Silliman University were enthusiastic about my interest in astronomy (I was even called ‘astroboy’). It took some time though before I decided to have a serious path in astronomy. I began making contacts with people in Manila: Dr. Cynthia Celebre of PAGASA, James Kevin TY of Astronomical League of the Philippines; Erika Valdueza of UP Astrosoc. I also contributed to the Philippine Journal of Astronomy. I took my OJT at PAGASA Dumaguete. It was not till my 3rd year in college that I heard of RTU and its BS Astronomy technology and MS Astronomy programs. Having heard that, I was glad since I wouldn’t have to worry about which school abroad should I look for in going into astronomy.

Later, I joined the IYA 2009 Astronomy Olympiad just to test myself on how far I’ve gotten with astronomy. With no teacher to advice me, I turned to books. Luckily, Silliman has the biggest library so I had a good number of books to assist me. I joined the competition and was surprised that I actually won (books rule! ).

Currently I am working on finishing my undergraduate studies then I plan to go to Mandaluyong and take up MS Astronomy. I continue to keep myself connected with people who are linked to Philippine Astronomy.

I plan to take a career path in research astronomy (hopefully in the Keck observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii).

JPPS Explores the Night Sky

2010-06-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Annual Meteor Showers

2010-05-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a little something for the meteor watchers:

There are meteor showers that regularly occur in every year. How we know when and where this meteor showers occur is simple. There are streams of debris from comets that pass along the Earth's orbit. This debris are called meteoroids. Now, the Earth ends up almost at the exact position after one revolution. And because the Earth ends up in exactly the same place it reaches the meteoroid stream in almost exactly the same time and the same place in its orbit. When this stream of debris come in contact with the Earth's atmosphere, a meteor shower is produced.

To help you locate meteor showers, they are usually named after their radiant (i.e., Leonids meteor shower can be found in Leo; Delta Aquarids radiate from the delta star of Aquarius).
Here is a list of the prominent meteor showers (visible to the Philippines). There are other showers aside from this but they have very low ZHRs.

January:

Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Quadrantids, as you may have noticed, does not resemble any of the 88 constellations. This is because the Quadrans Muralis, in which it is named from, is an obsolete constellation. This is located somewhere along Hercules, Bootes and Draco.
Peak: January 3/4
Active Period: January 1 - 6
ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate, the amount of meteors per hour during the peak): 90

April:

Lyrids Meteor Shower

Originating from the debris of comet Thatcher. This meteor shower originates from the constellation Lyra which rises up in the east at around 11:30.
Peak: April 22
Active Period: April 19 - 24
ZHR: 12

May:

Eta-Aquarids Meteor Shower

This meteor shower radiates from the Eta star of the constellation Aquarius. It's parent comet is the famous Halley's comet.
Peak: May 5/6
Active Period: May 1 - 8
ZHR: 45

June:
Lyrids Meteor Shower (June Lyrids)
Another meteor shower originating from Lyra.
Peak: June 15/16
Active Period: June 10 -21
ZHR: 9 - 10

July:

Delta Aquarids

Radiating from Aquarius' Delta star. It's parent comet is unknown. This shower produces bright yellow meteors.
Peak: July 28/29
Active Period: July 15 - Aug 15
ZHR: 19

Capricornids

This meteor shower produces bright yellowish fire balls. They strike the atmosphere slowly at an average of 15 miles per second.
Active Period: July 29 - 30
ZHR: 15

August:

Perseids Meteor Shower

Originating from the comet Swift-Tuttle
Peak: Aug 12/13
Active Period: Jul 25 - Aug 18
ZHR: 80

October:

Orionids Meteor Shower

Coming from the same meteoroid stream as Eta Aquarids, the Orionids belong to the debris of Halley's comet. Radiating from Orion, the hunter.
Peak: October 21
Active Period: Oct 16 - 26
ZHR: 25

November:

Taurids Meteor Shower (and Leonids)

A fascinating meteor shower that appears as two showers in one. It is a combination of Taurids and Leonids. Comet Encke is the source of this shower and Comet Temple-Tuttle.
Peak: Nov 5 and 17/18
Active Period: Nov 4 - 7 and Nov 15 - 19
ZHR: 8 and 10

December:

Geminids Meteor Shower

The most prominent and the most reliable of the annual meteor showers. This meteor shower comes from debris of the asteroid 3200 Phaeton. This shower creates a multi-colored display of meteors, most bright white, and then yellow, and then blue, red and green.
Peak: Dec 13/14
Active Period: Dec 17 - 15
ZHR: 80

I would be posting the rest of the minor meteor showers later. Good luck and clear skies!

Lunatic

2010-04-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, April 22, me and some of my friends in the church gathered to witness the Lyrids meteor shower. While waiting for the peak time, we set our eyes on the moon. Luckily we had a decent camera with us. I tinkered about with the settings until I was able to get a clear image of the moon and its craters. :)

here is a picture of my first successful astrophotography shot. I used a Canon Powershot S3 IS.

A Night at the Mountain Tops of Valencia

2010-03-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

Last night, Mar 29, me and some friends of kuya Moe went up to the mountaintops of Valencia to have a stargazing session. They've been doing it for quite some time, but never really knew how to maximize their stargazing - that's why they hauled me in.

The place had a perfect view of the eastern horizon, overlooking Dumaguete city and the sea. The skies were cloudy though for that night, but that didn't stop us. They had two refracting telescopes that haven't been used effectively. Some of the adjustment screws were missing and the tripod wasn't stable. I brought my binoculars along only to find out it was damaged and my eyepiece fell off.

Anyways, I managed to set up both scopes and targeted the most visible object at that time - the moon. The moon was almost full so the brightness was kinda a pain in the eye. We were able to view the craters of the moon and observe the mares. I also showed them Sirius, Procyon and Mars in the sky, forming like a giant Orion's belt. Later, Saturn came to view and I worked on getting the telescope to focus on it. When I was able to focus on Saturn using a 10mm eyepiece, we were able to see Saturn and its bright rings, as well as two of its moons.

The event would have been better with clear skies, but I'm happy to have pleased and amazed others with the Wonders of the Night Sky! :)

Armed and Ready :)

2010-03-05T23:02:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, me and my 1st year research assistants were preparing for doing my thesis. We had nothing to do for the mean time so we sat down and ate Mr.Chips. Suddenly, we saw Jupiter clear out from the clouds, so we immediately rushed to assemble the department's Celestron 8 (which we call Big Bertha).

When we focused on Jupiter, we were able to notice the Great Red Spot (Whoa!). After Jupiter, we looked around and trailed on to the Orion nebula. I recalled the view of the Trapezium from UP, and wanted to share it to them. Our telescope wasn't able to resolve the image well enough, but still we could distinguish the four baby stars surrounded by a cloud of interstellar gas.

Later that evening, Saturn came out and we all enjoyed looking at its rings (We even forgot about the thesis). Unfortunately, clouds began to cover up our view. So we began doing nothing.

I decided to check on the old telescopes that were in the cabinet (talk about dusty). I looked around for their mounts and found three equatorial mounts, I don't know which mount was for which telescope. Later, I was able to figure out which telescope belonged to which mount. Unfortunately, they were quite rusty and dusty. We set up one of the old telescopes and I thought my assistants how to do tracking.

We were all excited about having all 5 department telescopes functional that my assistants gave the old ones names after big bertha. One was given Berting, the other was called Bertot (i actually called it Milk shake).

Now that all 5 telescopes are ready, we are excited for our next stargazing session! :)

IYA 2009 National Astronomy Olympiad

2010-02-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Last February 18-20, I traveled to Manila to participate in IYA 2009 National Astronomy Olympiad, held at UP NISMED. I represented region seven in the nationals, since I was blessed to win the Regional level in Cebu, last Feb 21. I was blessed further by becoming champion of the olympiad in the national level.

The IYA 2009 National Astronomy Olympiad was held at the UP NISMED auditorium in UP Diliman, last Feb 19. The categories for the competition were: multiple choice, open ended1 and open ended 2 , and practical/hands-on.

Here are some pics I took from my cellphone since I wasn't able to bring a camera with me:

UP observatory at UP NISMED which housed a 16inch reflector given by the Japanese.

A picture of me receiving the first-prize.

UP NISMED Auditorium

IYA 2009 National Olympiad banner

Sir Jun giving a lecture on the equatorial mount

sir Bamm and sir Jun

How Did You Know?

2010-01-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

The other night we had a stargazing session where the highlights of the night was the Moon, Jupiter and Mars. When pointing out the planets, a common question that arises from the students is "How did you know?"

Fair enough, there have been those who make wild guesses as to what planet they are actually looking at, so it is just right that a critical thinker might be skeptical.

So how do we KNOW?

It is part of the astronomer's (or amateur astronomer's) job to be familiar with the night sky. Knowing where the planets are during a night comes with the territory. While explaining to the Physics 25 students, I pointed out the line in which the Sun, the Moon and the planets pass. This line is the ecliptic. Along these line extends a band we commonly know as the zodiac.

Now, the stars and the constellations in the zodiac have already been identified, along with their magnitudes. Now if a star is found in this path that doesn't belong to the constellation - that is usually a planet. When the planets are closest to the Earth, they usually shine with bright magnitudes (such as Mars and Jupiter on that night). When this happens, they become easy to identify.

Now, a little something on the planets: You can never see Mercury and Venus during midnight. You usually see Mercury in transit with the Sun, and Venus usually appears as a morning or evening star (during sunrise or during sunset). Now, only three more planets are visible with the naked eye, those are: Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The unique red-orange glow of Mars can distinguish it from the other two. Saturn on the other hand, due to distance, does not shine as bright as Jupiter and Mars. The remaining planets, Uranus and Neptune, are telescope object. It means they can only be observed via telescopes.

Astro Olympiad Experience

2010-01-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was the schedule for the regional eliminations of region 7 for the IYA 2009 Astronomy Olympiad. I was really excited to join, it was a test of my knowledge.
I left Dumaguete at 3:49 am and got the boaat in Sibulan. UP NISMED announced that I have to be there by 8 for the registration. It was 9 plus already and I'm still stuck in Cebu's traffic. I texted Ms. Jocelyn Canto, the DepEd rep, and she said it's ok, we will wait. I was worried since I didn't know where to find the venue. I arrived and lo and behold, only high-school contestants were there. I was the only college participant.

Anyways, we waited until 10:30 but still no college participants arrived, just the HS. I still took the written exam though.

The funny thing is, there was no categories given, so I ended up jumping from one astronomy textbook to another. I focused on things I didn't know much about, like eclipsing binaries, variable stars, theories of formation of the universe, gravitational micro-lensing an all that just to find out one thing - FOCUS ON THE BASICS.

It's funny because I'm supposed to know these things but because I was too focused on other astronomy topics, I failed to study them. Maybe I was too confident. Anyways, I didn't do too good, learned my lesson. I'm just lucky I'm blessed by God with an opportunity to do better. This time I'll do better!

AstroArt by Norman

2010-01-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Two of my passions are Astronomy and Art. Here are some of my paintings where I merged both astronomy and art:

More January events

2009-12-21T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some January Night Sky Events:

1 - Partial Lunar Eclipse (3:23 AM)
3 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak (4:66 PM)
15 - New Moon (3:11 PM)
- Partial Solar Eclipse (5:02 PM)
30 - Full Moon (2:17 PM)

Enjoy and Clear skies to all!

A Meteor Shower Observer's Poem

2009-12-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a short poem from one of the first time observers of a meteor shower from the Junior Philippine Physics Society.

Unfortunately, his first viewing was met with cloudy weather. He was only able to see 5 meteors that night.

"A moonless night, No stars in sight
Waiting to see, a streak of light
A falling star, a meteor's light
Not once, not twice, but 5 tonight."
-Thomas Villegas

This Month's Meteor Shower

2009-11-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

January's meteor shower will be the Quadrantid meteor shower.
Peak: January 3 4:33 PM
Activity: Jan 1 - 5
Rate: ZHR 100/hr (20-30 when observed 6 hours before and after peak)
Remarks: Lasts for a few hours, hardly observed. Although short, peak produces plenty streaks.

2009-10-26T02:28:00.000-07:00

Find more photos like this on Astronomy Philippines

JPPS explore the night sky

2009-09-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

In line with the IYA2009 celebration, the JPPS began a stargazing series entitled

Exploring the Hidden Wonders of the Night Sky.

The idea is taken from IYA's theme "The Universe, Yours to Discover," in which the JPPS will allow first time telescope users to see what they usually don't see at night.

Most of the first time users have not even seen the milky way on a clear dark night, nor have they seen the satellites of planets, the galaxies and nebulae (items listed in the NGC).

The first session was welcomed with scattered rain showers and technical problems, but this did not discourage the JPPS from pushing through with the activity. The 8 inch celestron reflector (Celestron 8) of the physics department had molds growing on the lens due to improper storage, and therefore could not be used. We ended up using the Firstscope 114C reflector in observing. After a few hours,we were graced to observe Jupiter and its moons. We viewed Jupiter through a 10mm and 25mm eyepiece.

We hope the rainy weather won't continue for future stargazing sessions.

Going Bonkerz on Celestia

2009-09-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

During the Founder's day celebration of Silliman University, I spent about a week explaining astronomy in the physics booth with the use of Celestia. We won over-all booth champion twice when this program was used(3 years participating, no celestia for 2008). Everyone loves to observe the space simulation, especially with the help of a projector (yeah, thanks Rosette!).

I decided to visit shatters.net for updates of the program, and I saw features that were in my version that I haven't explored. I began thinkering about with the program for two hours, and whoa, did i enjoy!

Before I download all the add ons that I can get perhaps I'll do another review for the Philippine Journal of Astronomy - this time on the Celestia software.

IYA2009 Philippine Olympiad

2009-09-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

The National Organizing Commitee of the IYA2009, in cooperation with UP NISMED, will be holding the first IYA2009 Philippine Olympiad. The Olympiad is open to both secondary and collegiate level, both competing in their respective levels. The Olympiad will be conducted in two stages: a regional and a national.

The regional eliminations will be held simultaneously in 17 regions of the country. The eliminations has been postponed to November 7. The finals will be held at UP-NISMED, Quezon City on 11 December 2009

You can download the registration form here:
http://www.astronomy2009.ph/cgi-bin/download.pl/files/pdf/astroolympiad-registrationform.pdf

For more details visit the IYA2009 Philippines Official Website.

For queries please contact Dr. Merle C. Tan, Director of UP-NISMED and Chairperson of the IYA2009 Olympiad at telephone numbers 981-8500 loc. 3901 to 3910, 927-4276 and 928-1563 or through olympiad@astronomy2009.ph.

Online Astronomy for Philippines

2009-07-30T01:41:00.000-07:00

One of the problems for those who engage in astronomy in the Philippines is the archipelago itself. It is hard to involve yourself in an astronomy community when you are seperated by islands.

The best thing for those who can't afford to travel much is to be updated via the net. And with the rise of social networks such as friendster, facebook, etc., I thought of coming up with an astronomy oriented social network.

The network would allow us to be more interactive in comparisson to a mailing list. Astronomical groups can post their activities and photos that can be shared with everyone else. In a way, we would be promoting astronomy in the Philippines.

The network is made in ning, a free social network:
www.astrophils.ning.com

Solar Eclipse

2009-07-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

On July 22, there will be a total solar eclipse. However, for the Philippines, the eclipse is only observable as a partial solar eclipse.

The duration of the eclipse will be from 8:48 - 11:08 in the morning. Depending where you are in the Philippines, the maximum of the eclipse would be at around 49.3%. The Astronomical League of the Philippines will have an expedition to Wuhan, China to document the total solar eclipse. You can read about it in ALP's website (click the link on the sidebar).

Now, if you would browse the net, there are a lot of misconceptions on how to safely view a solar eclipse. It is UNSAFE to use the following, i repeat, UNSAFE:
color film, black and white film with no silver (chromogenic film), film negatives with images, smoked glass, sunglasses, photographic neutral density filters, and polarizing filters.

There are solar filters that can be used but you have to be sure those are the appropriate filters. Probably the safest way to view the solar eclipse is by projecting the image to a screen, however I advice you to do so with someone who has experience in solar projection/solar astronomy.

Meteor Shower

2009-06-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

July's meteor shower will be the Delta Aquarids meteor shower.
Peak: July 28 10:09
Activity: --
Rate: --
Remarks: --
Constellation: Aquarius

Silliman IYA2009 Group

2009-04-22T01:04:00.000-07:00

Silliman University has organized a group that will handle IYA related activities. The group would allow students of Silliman (and hopefully including other schools) to participate and acheive awareness with regards to the International Year of Astronomy.

The group is to be under Junior Philippine Physics Society (JPPS) and is to be advised by Anatoly Karpov Buss. Although under the JPPS, the group is open to all students and orgs regardless of scholastic discipline.

If the activities turn out well, we would establish an Astronomical Society in Silliman. I have raised the suggestion to Raymund Ang of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) and he said that they are willing to be partners with the group.

I hope this will work out and be a success!
Clear skies!

First Phlippine Produced Astronomer

2009-03-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Dr. Armando Lee, the very first Filipino with an MS in Astronomy to finish in the Philippines. Dr. Lee is a graduate of RTU's MS Astronomy program.

Currently, there are 11 students in RTU's MS Astronomy program and less than 20 students in their BS Astronomy Technology degree.

I hope that many more astronomers will be produced in the Philippines!

Comet Lulin

2009-03-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

For those who weren't able to view Comet Lulin, here are some images:

Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

This image of comet Lulin (center-right) is seen through the trees from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009. Lulin, also known as the green comet, made its closest approach to the Earth overnight.

Image: SkyandTelescope.com

Image: Joseph Brimacombe

What's on the sky 2nyt?

2009-02-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

1. VENUS SHINES - Feb 19, Venus shined with a magnitude of -4.5 in the constellation Virgo

2. COMET LULIN - Feb 24 will be the closest approach of comet Lulin on Earth

3. PLANETS HERE - Mars, Mercury and Jupiter will be prominent in the evening of the remaining days of February. Watch them as they shine closely to the moon.

4. BOOM - A huge gamma-ray explosion was detected. The energy produced in the explosion is greater than 9,000 supernovae. This has been the largest gamma-ray burst in history.

2009-02-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

IYA2009 PH is now formally open!

Welcome
International Year
of Astronomy 2009

Withering in the Weather

2009-02-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

The Ironies of Weather Foul-ups in Stargazing at the Start of the Year

Last Monday, 9 Feb. 2009, there was a penumbral lunar eclipse, which occured from 8:30 - 12 in the morning. Unfortunately, here in Dumaguete City, the weather provided a very minimal view of the moon.

Dumaguete, as you may have heard in the news, experienced flash flood on Saturday (Feb 7). The following night however provided a clear view of the almost full moon. Hoping for good weather, me and my friends waited for the night and then... we were dismayed by the cloudy skies. Ironically, the following night (Feb 10), the moon was clear as a gem in the night.

Another irony was during the annular solar eclipse. I was suppose to have a class at the time of the eclipse, but we just happened to be dismissed early. I was glad since I thought I would not get to see it. Unfortunately all the dark rain clouds covered up the sun.

The weather always plays as a sinister factor when it comes to stargazing. And ironic as it is, in the past weeks, clear skies seem to happen when I don't do any observing. I hope the rest of the astronomical events and viewing schedules for the IYA won't be obscurred by foul weather.

Clear Skies to All! (Please!)

Partial Solar Eclipse

2009-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

As posted earlier, there would be two partial SOLAR (hehe.. sorry if i wrote lunar last time) eclipses visible in the Philippines. The first occured last Jan 26 with 71%, but unfortunately for some areas, such as Iligan and Dumaguete, the rainy weather blocked the view of this event. For those in Manila, they were able to see the eclipse.

Anyways, there is still one more chance for this year (which may i remind those who don't know, is the IYA2009). The second solar eclipse will occur on July 22, 2009. This time, it would be in the morning, but only at 49% (growing smaller as you move south).

Clear Skies!

1st Philippine Astronomy Convention

2009-01-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) will be having the very first Philippine Astronomy Convention. This will be held in the Rizal Technological University in Mandaluyong, on February 15, 2009. EVERYONE is invited to attend!

You can download the invitation at:
http://www.astroleaguephils.org/pac_2009.pdf

International Year of Astronomy Trailer

2009-01-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Astronomy Degree Offered in the Philippines

2008-12-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

The first Astronomy program is offered in the Philippines.

Before, Rizal Technological University - Dept. of Astronomy only offered Astronomy as a subject, but now with the development of Astronomy in the Philippines RTU now offers a graduate degree. This is a first in the Philippines.

The degrees available in RTU is a degree leading to the Master of Science in Astronomy and the Bachelor of Science in Astronomy Technology.

The BS Astronomy Technology is a five-year program that covers topics of Astronomy and Engineering. The MS Astronomy was created to prepare future research astronomers and leaders in astronomy education in the country.

Aside from that, as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 celebration in the Philippines, they are planning to create a "Certificate in Astronomy" via Distance Learning Education (DLE).

Astro-Journal 2

2008-12-03T01:12:00.000-08:00

When Heaven Smiles

At the start of of the month of December, many people were surprised at the beautiful display of the night sky. My cellphone started showing messages from my friend saying, "look, the moon and the stars are smiling." I stepped out the house, grabbed the camera and looked for the moon on the western horizon. From what I could remember, I began to assume that the stars were not stars but the planet Jupiter and Venus which have been coloring the early night sky of November. When I finally saw the moon, I was surprised! It really displayed a smiling face.

Looking closely, I was sure that one of the eyes was Jupiter, the other I wasn't sure. I began snapping pictures and was disappointed that I couldn't get a good picture ( how i wished i had a CCD camera ). I went home, and told my friends that they were planets and not stars. After eating dinner, I heard from GMA 7's 24-horas that my assumptions were correct, the eyes of that smiling face was Jupiter and Venus.

A smile from the heavens to welcome the month of December, the season of Christmas. Merry Christmas and clear skies to all!

Image by Greg Morales

Astro-Journal 01

2008-11-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

Physics – Astrophysics – Astronomy

Let’s start by defining these three terms:

Physics – science concerned with the laws that govern the structure of the universe, and the forms of matter and energy.

Astronomy – astronomy is primarily an observational science concerned with the motions, positions, distances, distributions, and physical conditions of celestial objects

Astrophysics – the study of physical properties and composition of celestial objects using the known laws of physics. In the simplest sense, astrophysics is physics + astronomy.
It began with the development of spectroscopy in the 19th century, which allowed astronomers to analyze composition of stars from their light. Astrophysics view the universe as a vast natural laboratory in which they can study matter under conditions of temperature, pressure, and density that are not unattainable on Earth.

I wanted to take astronomy as a major when I get to college, but since astronomy wasn’t offered in schools I knew, I took the closest thing – Physics. I could remember swiftly passing through astronomy topics in our general science in high-school, and not reaching astro topics in our high-school physics. This made me crave for more knowledge on astronomy since I was really interested. I could even remember taking my fourth year classmates to the physics department and encouraging them to take the course with me.

Taking physics as a major, I get introduced to various concepts and topics covered by physics. Most of the topics or fields we cover are actually used in astrophysics and astronomy. Like physics, astronomy covers essentially the same thing, only with focus outside our planet. If you were not really interested, you wouldn’t see the strong connection between physics and astronomy: how optics and radiation are the strongest tools in measuring and observing the celestial, how matter and gravity affect everything, how temperature and luminosity describe to us the nature of stars, how nuclear energy give power to the stars and galaxies, how relativity makes us understand black holes, how particle physics tells us where all the matter in the universe comes from, how practically most of the knowledge we have on astronomy is defined by the laws of physics
.
As of now, I am an amateur astronomer who is still getting in the hang of knowing the wonders of the night sky. I wasn’t a first-section student in high-school and I’m not that fast with math. But, being a physics major does help me understand the concepts I encounter in my further readings.
How the science of physics and astronomy is intertwined really fascinates me.

Philippines Officially Participates in the International Year of Astronomy

2008-11-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

On September 29, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Proclamation 1630 declaring that the Philippines will officially take part in the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

A copy of the declaration can be found here:
http://www.astronomy2009.ph/files/pdf/IYA2009PH-Proclamation.pdf

The official copy of the proclamation can be retrieved here:
http://www.ops.gov.ph/records/issuances-proc/

According to the proclamation, the following are in charge of the Philippine celebration:
*PAGASA
*PCASTRD
*UP College of Science
*UP Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry
*UP NISMED
*NAMRIA
*Rizal Technological University
*UBIQOM, Inc.

Other scientific organizations and astronomical societies are encouraged to participate by organizing activities, such as lectures and telescope viewing, for the year-long event.

World Space Week

2008-10-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

October 4 to 10 is the celebration of the World Space Week. The World Space Week is an annual global space celebration coordinated by the Spaceweek International Association.
The World Space Week was declared in 1999 by the United Nations General Assembly. The event celebrates the contribution of space science and technology to improve our lives. It also marks the anniversary of two milestones in space exploration: Sputnik I(1st artificial Satellite) and the entry into force of the Treaty Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

NASA goes 50

2008-10-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is celebrating their 50 years of discovery and innovation. NASA officialy goes 50 year on October 1 but they began their grand celebrations on Sep 24 at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Interactive features to celebrate NASA's 50 years are in the NASA website, such as virtual tours, galleries and exhibits.
http://www.nasa.gov/50th/home/index.html

In memory of Pluto

2008-09-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

We all now that Pluto has recently been demoted from being a planet to being a dwarf planet. So now we have Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. For the dwarf planets however, we have the 2003UB313(later renamed Erin), Ceres(the asteroid), Pluto and some recently discovered bodies.

Pluto however was given recognition by giving dwarf planets from Pluto and onwards, a classification called PLUTOID. So all the dwarf planets excluding Ceres is now called a PLUTOID.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

2008-08-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

2008's Last Eclipse would be visible to the Philippines on August 17.
The eclipse will begin at 2:23 AM and end on 11:57 AM, Philippine Standard Time. The eclipse would be face to watch without any protective eye filters. Binoculars and telescopes will come in handy. Clear skies and goodluck!

Choosing a Telescope

2008-07-08T04:34:00.001-07:00

If you are off to buy your first telescope, here are some reminders as to your choice of telescopes:

1. Always take a look at the power, image brightness and portability against the cost.

2. A common misconception is with magnification. This is not the most important specification, so do not use this as basis.
Interchangeable eyepieces are a solution to variety in magnification.

3. The most important specification of telescopes is the aperture (the diameter of the main lens/mirror).
The aperture is usually written in mm (the larger the aperture, the brighter and sharper the images).
A 25mm allows a low-power view of deep-sky objects. Planets, star clusters, and double stars can be seen from 18-12mm.

4. For beginners, look for a telescope with an altazimuth mount.
A variation to this is the Dobsonian mount which is easy to use.
But if you plan to buy a motorized telescope, these telescopes use the equatorial mount.

5. Plastic is a negative thing. It’s preferable to have metal or wooden construction.

6. Look at the quality of the finder aid. A finder aid is helpful in looking for variety of objects in the sky.
Poor finder aids make it hard to point at objects.
There are new finders called reflex finder which uses a red LED at your target.

8. Think of your storage area and where you plan to use your telescope.
Refractors are long and hard to maneuver.

7. Check the mount for sturdiness. It helps to check this before making a purchase.

WARNING!!!
No matter how big your telescope is, you won't be able to see nebulas and galaxies in full color as depicted in long-exposure and computer-enhanced photographs.
Although it shows more, the eye is not sensitive enough to see the colors.
Also, you cannot see flags and footprints on the moon.
No Earth based telescope is powerful enough to do such.

Beginner's Choice: 6 inch (150mm) - 8 inch (200mm) reflector with Dobsonian mount.

For a variety of telescope choices visit:
www.telescopeplanet.co.uk

Stargazer Tricks

2008-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some neat stargazing tricks that you can try out:

1. Use RED light. -> red light has lesser strain on your eyes so it is the best color of light you can use to preserve your night vision. Also, most sky maps are designed to be easilly viewed under a red light.

2. Know where you are by finding the north star. -> The north star, polaris can tell you how many degrees you are from the equator. How? Look for Polaris (tail of the little dipper), then determine its angular distance (vertical distance from horizon measured in degrees). The angular distance is the same with your distance in the globe.

3. Recycle to make a quadrant. -> To measure angular distance, an easy tool to use and make is a quadrant. if you buy plastic protractors they usually get broken. Take the broken protractor and take a quarter circle. You can attach this to a piece of cardboard also cut to a quarter circle. Punch a hole in the focus and suspend a weight from the hole. When you view the horizon, look along the 90 deg. line, the weight will fall on the 0 deg. mark giving the 0 deg. angular distance. as you look up the weight slides down giving you the rising angular measurement.

4. Reach for the skies. -> astronomers use arc length to estimate the length of a celestial object. Extend your fist to the sky at arms length. At this distance, your fist length is equal to 10 degrees arc.

Want to share your tricks? email or comment in this blog.

International Year of Astronomy

2008-05-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

This coming 2009 is the international year of astronomy. It was declared by the IAU (International Astronomical Union) for this year since it marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's observation of the sky with a telescope.

If you could recall, the telescope was invented by a dutch lens maker. It was developed by Galileo and used to observe the sky. This is the first time a telescope was used for astronomy; and now is considered one of the most important tools of astronomy.

Official site for the Philippines:
http://www.astronomy2009.ph/
Pandaigdigang Taon ng Astronomiya
Philippine National Node

Astronomy Groups

2008-05-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some astronomy groups in the Philippines recognized by Astronomy magazine:
(click the link to go to astronomy.com for more info on these groups)

Astronomical League of the Philippines
Frequency: Monthly
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies
Astronomical Organization of the Philippines, Inc.
Location: Philippines
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies, National/International organizations
MSU-IIT Astronomical Society
Frequency: Weekly
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies, National/International organizations
Philippine Astronomical Society
Frequency: Monthly
Categories: National/International organizations
Philippine Astronomy
Frequency: Monthly
Categories: National/International organizations
Pyxis Astronomy Educational Services
Frequency: Monthly
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies
University of the Philippines Astronomical Society
Frequency: Weekly
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies
UP Astronomical Society
Categories: Clubs/Astronomical societies

Black Holes Bring Filipina An Award

2008-03-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

"Astronomy and Astrophysics are rich and exciting fields that offer plenty of opportunities for young scientists to contribute. Master the basics, keep up with the latest discoveries, don't stop asking questions and finding the answers,"

-Reinabelle Reyes

Reinabelle Reyes, a 24-year-old astrophysicist, was given the "Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award" at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January. She was given the award in line with her major role in the discovery of the largest number of "super massive" black holes in the center of galaxies, hidden by obscured quasars.

Reyes is a DOST scholar who graduated valedictorian from the Philippine Science High School in 2001, and 4 years later graduated in Ateneo de Manila, as summa cum laude with a Physics degree. She then took her masterals in Particle physics at the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. Reyes is now a candidate for Ph.D in astrophysics, at the Princeton University in New Jersey.

Her 1st task at Princeton was to "figure out" how rare these black holes were. This is quite a difficult task since blackholes are considered invisible. She, in fact, described the project as looking for a needle in a haystack.

She was assigned to a group headed by Nadia Zakamska, a long-term postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, and under the supervision of "quasar hunter" professor Michael Strauss. The group found 900 black holes.

MyNASA

2008-02-24T04:21:00.001-08:00

There is a new way to access NASA pages and keep track of what you wish to view. NASA has a personal user account called mynasa. You can access the page by typing mynasa.nasa.gov

MYNASA allows you different features to make your research of space related articles easier. And, the links from the home page are credible, so you don't have to go checking around in all the different sites to check if the posted information is wrong.

Your default account would contain a NASA calendar (with current events), a panel where you can save NASA videos, a panel where you can view bookmarked news, and panels that update you with different news such as the solar system, planet earth, and technology.

The mynasa account is simple and it does not require any personal info since you wouldn't be allowed to post items. I've been using it for researching articles from NASA. Try it. ^_^

Stargazers blog

2008-02-24T03:54:00.000-08:00

Greetings.
Welcome to the Stargazers blog. Here we can have more interactive communication and discussions with regards to astronomy. I hope that you would be able to contribute to the blog. Thanks guys and happy star gazing.

Stargazers

NAW-PAC 2012

Observation at Taytay, Rizal

Starry Christmas Night

2012 – A Year for Meteor Showers

M42 Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula through TS 70

1st Attempt at Prime Focus

From Shades of Grey to Brilliant Red - December 10, 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse

December 10, 2011 - Total Lunar Eclipse

24-year old Fil-Am One of NASA's Youngest Engineers

Filipino Entries in the InOMN Art Contest

Asteroid 2005 YU55 - No Harbinger of Doom

AstroEscapades

Stargazing session - Oct 29, 2011

Crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury

Argument of Ignorance - The UFO

Storms from the Sun

Stargazers Features the Stargazers: Randylyn Grapa

Stargazers Features the Stargazers: Mark Arzadon

Stargazers Features the Stargazers!

Stargazing is for everyone!

Stargazing October 2011

Urban Astronomy

Travel Scope 70 Review

Philippine Planetariums

My Astronomy Classmates at the Planetarium

The Messier Objects

Binocular Astronomy 21 Aug 2011

Celestron UpClose

Why We Have A Moon

AstroArt

Little Red Shinning Moon - An Eclipse Experience

24oras: Hi-tech na paraan ng pagtuturo ng astronomy - Video - GMA News Online - The go-to site for Filipinos everywhere - Latest Philippine News

Dr. Dante L. Ambrosio

Making Your Way to Professional Astronomy in the Philippines

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011

Comet Hyakutake at BenCab Museum

Thin Waxing Crescent

The Setting Sun from SM City Baguio

Waning Crescent

Orb of Light

To the Next Stargazers of Silliman University

ScienceCasts: Super Moon

LUNAR HOCUM

2011 National Astronomy Week

Geminids Again! :)

Astrophotography Online

Blackout

Share the Stars

Alpha

Brightest Comet of 2010 Coming Our Way

InOMN

Building a career path in astronomy

JPPS Explores the Night Sky

Annual Meteor Showers

Lunatic

A Night at the Mountain Tops of Valencia

Armed and Ready :)

IYA 2009 National Astronomy Olympiad

How Did You Know?

Astro Olympiad Experience

AstroArt by Norman

More January events

A Meteor Shower Observer's Poem

This Month's Meteor Shower

JPPS explore the night sky

Exploring the Hidden Wonders of the Night Sky.

Going Bonkerz on Celestia

IYA2009 Philippine Olympiad

Online Astronomy for Philippines

Solar Eclipse

Meteor Shower

Silliman IYA2009 Group

First Phlippine Produced Astronomer

Comet Lulin

What's on the sky 2nyt?

WelcomeInternational Yearof Astronomy 2009

Withering in the Weather

Partial Solar Eclipse

Welcome
International Year
of Astronomy 2009