Special Observing Session - June 28

During the summer of 2014 I initiated a series of voluntary special astronomical observations at home. I organized it for some students of batch 2018 of the BS Astronomy-Technology course of RTU. Here I taught them how to do star-hopping, locate targets, as well as describe the properties of some of these targets.

Last Saturday I had an opportunity to do another session despite the rainy season. We saw lesser objects than usual but it was still better than nothing. Our targets were mostly in the Scorpius-Sagittarius region and the summer triangle. For most of them it was also their first time to view Mars and Saturn. I had 6 students with me (Kea, Phoebe, Mae, Iela, Jochelle, & Dhann) with only one who has been with me in the other sessions (Kea). Other students wanted to join as well but were not able to secure permission from their guardians due to the last minute planning of the activity. Hopefully, next time I would be able to have another session with them.

The Starburst Initiative

Today,  we are currently traveling to Camarines Sur for another Starburst activity. What began as a program for a star party evolved into a nationwide astronomy outreach program. The Rizal Technological University's Department of Earth and Space Sciences is currently engaged in conducting astronomy lectures and stargazing activities in different high-schools and colleges throughout the Philippines. We create linkages with the different schools in order to promote astronomy education and research, as well as  astronomy in general, to the Filipinos. The program also seeks to increase the experiences and technical skills of the BS Astronomy-Technology students involved by allowing them to deliver lectures and share their views of the night sky through RTU's telescopes. This program has allowed us an avenue for communicating astronomy to the public and inspiring others to take an interest for the wonders of the universe.

Astronomy for all :)

Starburst at Camarines Sur

Starburst at RTU, Mandaluyong

Starburst at Laguna

Starburst at Negros Occidental

Astronomy versus Astrology

Over the past few weeks, we have been busy debunking the doomsday hoax by providing a scientific explanation of the various scenarios.  In this endeavor however,  we came across a local TV network that consistently referred to astrologers for their broadcasts. Aside from that, when the network finally invited an astronomer to explain, their questions were focused more on social behavior rather than understanding the situation. As one of the major networks in the country it was sending the wrong stuff and providing a dependence in society on superstition.

Astrology is NOT A SCIENCE!  It is a belief system that connects the positions of heavenly bodies to predict human behavior. This has no scientific basis at all. Although astrology employs the use of observation of the heavenly bodies, the conclusions they form have no significant connection to their data.

Astronomy however is A SCIENCE.  It is a detailed and accurate study of the heavenly bodies and the physical laws that govern them. It is tested and proven through the years with detailed study and observations. Astronomy makes scientific predictions based on facts - predictions on various physical occurrence and phenomena in the universe.

We can easily disprove the credibility of astrological predictions in various ways.  In astrology they believe that each zodiac sign has an attributed behavior.  Imagine gathering a small group of the same sign.  They are sure to have certain similarities. However, as individuals we are bound to have more differences. Now imagine a thousand people with the same sign. The likelihood that they are to all have the same behavior becomes very much lesser (likely 0%).

Another way to do it would be to compare the horoscopes for a specific day. Horoscope predictions are generic in nature and can apply to any individual. If compared against each other their inconsistencies become evident. You can also shuffle the horoscopes and try to get them to match with the occurrence in life of any individual sign.

If the information we base our decisions on are inaccurate and inconsistent, then our judgment will have no bearing.  Do not insult your ability to think critically.

Open Cluster Formation Analogy

Among the attractive celestial targets in the night sky are the star clusters. Star clusters are said to be formed in interstellar clouds when clumps of these material begin to undergo gravitational collapse. The collapsing material in turn form stars and other celestial bodies until it is consumed or blown away by stellar winds (a small amount can be retained and can be seen as nebulosity). The stars that form from a single cloud emerge as a cluster of stars. These stars either stay together in one group, or slowly drift apart from one another. This is why some clusters are very loose, while others are tightly distributed. Open clusters are important in studying stellar evolution. The stars that emerge in the cluster are typically of the same age, distance and chemical properties. In the Milky Way alone, there are roughly 1600 confirmed open clusters out of the 50-100,000 suspected. Some of the famous open clusters are the Beehive Cluster [M44], the Jewel Box,and the Pleiades cluster [M45].

A nice analogy for open clusters is the use of bubbles. Bubbles allow us to imagine the formation of stars in an open cluster. As the bubbles for in a chain of loops held together by surface tension, they resemble areas of clumped up matter - kinda like the famous "pillars of creation" image in the Eagle Nebula.

The chain eventually breaks apart and forms into individual bubble structures which we can use as an analogy for the stars. The stars/bubbles are originally confined together into a small area (tight clusters) and later spread out in space (loose cluster). Some bubbles that appear to stick together can be compared to stars that form binary pairs as a result of gravitational interaction.

Astro Education

Its been a while since I've written anything on this blog. The weather lately has been uncooperative, been quite busy reviewing lessons for my classes, and the net connection at home has been down, but still the art of science documentation must prevail! hehe..

This school year we began one of our classes by running around on a pile of sand, attempting to throw balls at a right angle projection, spun around in office chairs, all in an attempt to create simplified means of teaching astronomy concepts to students. This is the field of astronomy education.

A lot of students are interested to learn about astronomy, yet not all teachers know how to teach it. Our class attempts to create simplified experiments on how to show various concepts in astronomy in a means where the students can be taught the basics without having to rely on technical equipment or settling for textbook style lectures. The experiments are creative and can really challenge the learners to think for themselves.

I tried one of these experiments on disproving horoscopes on my Introduction to Astronomy class. We shuffled the previous day's horoscope and let the students choose which matches their experience for that day. A very small percentage of the class were able to match their horoscope which goes to show how unreliable and inaccurate the prediction of horoscopes are.

Also, I showed them the site where I got it online (philstar.com; June 24 horoscope. Experiment conducted on June 25) and showed a particular line which said "the moon goes into hiding these week,disappearing a little more each night until the new moon in Cancer on Friday" which was very much incorrect since the moon was still in the waxing crescent phase and which means it has just came out of the new moon.

Simple as the experiment maybe, it well proves its point. The development of educational materials in astronomy can really help develop astronomy here in the Philippines, in terms of astronomy education. I'm looking forward to our outputs.

Making Your Way to Professional Astronomy in the Philippines

Astronomy is one of the sciences where almost anyone 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 a 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.

Astronomy Degree Offered in the Philippines

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).