Filipino Astronomy Blogs

Below is a listing of astronomy blogs (including mixed blogs, and blog-style astronomy websites).

Philippine Astronomy Blogs
Blog	Author(s)	Year Started
First Light	Kin Enriquez	2005
The Sky Above	Erika Valdueza	2007
SU-Physics	Junior Philippine Physics Society	2007
Stargazers	Norman Marigza	2008
TV-101 Blog Page	James Kevin Ty	2008
Amateur Astronomer	Ezekiel	2008
Tani&#39s Astronomy Log	Nathaniel Custodio	2008
Lunar20	Reynold Chong	2009
Eclipse Hunter	Jodl Gayatin	2009
Paper, Chalkdust and Stars	Edward Von Delelis	2010
Chinilicious&#39 Topsy Turvy Town	Crisel Tungala	2010
Philippine Astronomy	Raymund John Ang	2010
Journey to the Stars	Criselda Roque	2010
Amateur Astronomy Adventures	Marvin Xylon Jaen	2010
The Night Sky in Focus	Anthony Guiller Urbano	2011
Diffraction Limited	Dennis Llante	2011
Astronomy & Living by Hernando	Hernando Bautista	2011
DSLR Astrophotography Philippines	Leo Dy	2012
The AstroBirder	Vincent R. Lao	2012
RTU Astrosoc	RTU Astronomy Society	2012
Sky Observer	Margareth Custodio	2012
Luminism	Shubhashish Banerjee	2015
Sidereal Times	UP Astronomical Society
Stardust Observatory	John Nassr
JVNoriega Astro Images	JV Noriega
The Cosmic Wanderer	Maria Sobina Yu	2015

You can also access a full description on the nature of these blogs in my 2012 seminar paper entitled Astronomy Blogging as a Medium for Developing Astronomy Education in the Philippines.

Dots in Space

Meet Aedan Pio, an intelligent 4-year old boy with a passion for space. He dreams of being an astronaut, and is a promising astro artist who does watercolor paintings of the planets. Sadly, Pio has a condition called chordoma (a rare kind of brain cancer).

To assist Pio, the Lung Center of the Philippines in coordination with Oxygen Art + Design Gallery will be hosting a fund raising art exhibit entitled Dots in Space. The exhibit will run from Sept 4 - Oct 6, 2015 at the lobby of the Lung Center (Quezon Avenue, Quezon City). Pio has several watercolor paintings of the solar system being sold as well as some paintings by his grandmother. I also contributed four paintings in the exhibit. Other astro artists and imagers are encouraged to add to the ongoing exhibit to help Pio.

As I looked at Pio's paintings I was amazed how he has certain details about the planets such as their colors and features. One particular painting I saw has all the terrestrial planets on one side and the gas giants on the other with Pluto located away from the line-up in accordance with its current dwarf planet status. During the short chat I had with Pio he asked me why Jupiter is so big. I was also surprised to Pio's response when his mom told him to ask me what is Jupiter made off. He responded by saying that Jupiter is made of mostly Hydrogen and Helium.

One of Pio's paintings.

For those interested to contribute you may contact me here, or reach the exhibit curator Dara Solevilla at 09153023274.

Astronomy Convention

 

The University of the Philippines Astronomical Society will be holding an Astronomy Convention for High School Teachers and Students. The convention will be for 3-days and 2-nights (November 7-9) at Anne Raquel's Resort in Olongapo City.

The convention will host lectures and lab activities for students and a Teaching workshop/seminar for the high school teachers.

For more information you can visit the convention's Facebook page or contact

upastrosociety@gmail.com

or Trizzia Tiwaquen at 09279831919

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction (July 1)

Here are my shots of the close planetary pairing of Venus and Jupiter.

 Under-exposed to reveal the crescent Venus and the bands on Jupiter

 Exposed to reveal three of the Galilean moons (Europa hidden in Jupiter's shadow)

My June 30 shots can be seen at the previous post or as featured in AWB.

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction

Tonight will be the closest planetary pairing between Jupiter and Venus (0.3 degrees apart) after a very long period. This conjunction of the two planets is believed as one of the likeliest candidates for the 'Star of Bethlehem'.

A lot of amateur and professional astronomers throughout the world have been observing these two as they get closer and closer each night. I have planned to document their displacement in the night sky however cloudy skies have been dominant as of late.

Here are my images taken as of last night (June 30).

Note:

Unfortunately, my close-up image was plagiarized last night. The copyright was cropped out and the levels edited, but you could still tell it was my image from the distinct features (besides I have the RAW). You may share my images but please retain the image credits and do not claim it as your own.

Save the Night for Sea Turtles

Today (June 16) is World Sea Turtle Day – a day used to honor and highlight the importance of sea turtles. These wonderful creatures are at risk due to various human activity, including the presence of artificial lights.

Now for those in the astronomy scene we value the dark night sky in order for us to appreciate the wonders of the universe. But known to little is the threat of light pollution on these endangered creatures. Female sea turtles look for dark coastal areas to nest their eggs and to keep them protected. The presence of coastal lights prevent them from finding suitable nests for their eggs. Sometimes coastal lighting casts shadows on some areas that to the turtles may seem dark and suitable, but is actually exposed come daylight.

Sea turtle hatchlings also have a natural programming that direct them towards the safety of the sea. For centuries the reflection of the moon and stars on the sea have guided them. With the presence of artificial coastal lighting today, they are disoriented and crawl away from the water and into roads or populated regions where they end up ran over or sold as pets (which is illegal for endangered species). Others who don't find their way become exhausted and dehydrated until they perish.

 

Gamay, a Hawksbill turtle rehabilitated in the Silliman University Marine Lab and released in the Apo Island Marine Sanctuary.

Among the critically endangered sea turtle species are the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricat) who have been reported to lay eggs in the populated and highly commercialized island of Boracay. We have four other species of sea turtles inhabiting the Philippine waters - Loggerhead (Caretta caretta; endangered), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas; endangered), leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea; critically endangered), and the Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea; vulnerable).

Sea turtles are only part of a large number of species of animals affected by artificial light at night. So let's help protect these species by avoiding the use of excessive and unshielded lighting. In doing so, you also allow astronomers, stargazers, and astronomy enthusiasts a better view of the sky. All these animals are affected - and you and I are among them.

If you are interested to help monitor the levels of light pollution in the Philippines, you can join us at the Philippine Light Map project.

Philippine Light Map

2015 is the International Year of Light and Light Based Technologies (IYL2015). As participation to the event, a few students and I (from the Guild for Astronomy Innovation and Advancement) started the Philippine Light Map Project. It was a program I initially proposed to RTU last year, but none of the faculty then took it up. It was formally announced to the public during the last monthly meeting of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) with members of the UP-Astrosoc present.

The Philippine Light Map Project is designed to monitor the light pollution levels in the country. It aims to involve members of the astronomical and scientific community, as well as the local community, to provide scientific data by submitting images of the night sky which will then be subjected to photometric analysis. A map of the Philippines will then be generated with indications of light levels over areas that have been able to provide data.


Objectives:

• To gather collective image data from members of the astronomical community all over the country and create a photometric light map to monitor the status and changes in the levels of light pollution in the Philippines.
• To determine areas with dark skies for possible observation sites.
• To determine value of wasted energy resource at night and determine the trend of growing/decreasing energy consumption.
• To advocate dark-sky preservation and conservation of energy resources.

Various groups in different regions will be asked to be involved so that they may conduct and gather data from their own local regions. The project is designed to run continuously so that the changes may be monitored in the light levels and that the rate of wasted energy may be determined. The data can be presented to local government units (LGUs), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as well as the National Energy Commission (NEC). The data presented can be used to propose lighting ordinances to limit the amount of light pollution. The project can also be coordinated with various international efforts that support the preservation of the night sky such as: the International Conference in Defense of the Quality of Night Sky, International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), International Astronomical Union (IAU), and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee.

How to get involved?
1. You may submit your images of the night sky for photometric analysis at the facebook group page of the Philippine Light Map. Ideally, a standard star must be included in the image field (please do not over expose the star; you may search the web for a catalog of photometric standard stars). Try your best to achieve a point focus for stars (if you zoom in on an unfocused star it tends to create a donut like shape). Also, ideally we want a narrow field view of view so set your lenses at the highest magnification; or your telescope attachments at prime focus.

Please indicate the date & time, observation site, camera model, lens and telescope used, as well as the location of the field you will submit (perhaps in RA/DEC).

2. If you have no camera you may use the star counting method designed by the International Meteor Organization to give an estimate of the limiting magnitude of your sky.

3. Reach out to your photographer contacts across the country to help get images; or advocate the importance of preserving a dark night sky.