Fish & Star-Chips

Stargazing would ensue for the whole night till dawn. This being the final night, few were vowing to stay awake till dawn. They brought out the guitar and were soon on karaoke-high. Others were playing cards by the moonlight. As always, a dose of ghost stories too.. (Apparently, Rooms 13, 14, 15, 16.. have had night visitations a-knocking on their doors.) Soon, a set of mind-games kept everyone awake and guessing. By 4am, only a handful of us were left on the jetty: 3-5 September 2001 (Tioman, Malaysia)

1 September 2001, Saturday. It had been one of those *happening* weekends starting Saturday 01 September. A couple of us pitched out in Pasir Ris park in the full moon, scanning the early evening skies with a C 8. It was a good night. Mars was hovering between the tip of Sagittarius and the tail of Scorpius. We logged in a few of the regular clusters and binary stars despite the full moonlight. (These same clusters would be seen again later.) This mixed with a lot of food and chatter and impromptu games.

We walked a good stretch of Pasir Ris, exploring the nearby night scene at the Fisherman's Village. We later made our way to a nearby 7-Eleven for a 3am food party. A couple of us eventually ended up in another recreational park. The morning air was crisp. Saturn and Jupiter had long risen with Aldebaran & the Hyades cluster in Taurus. Orion was stirring in the distance as the world was waking up to their morning walks around this little park. Sirius was burning somewhere behind the buildings which obstructed the city horizon. By some quirk of imagination, I designed a new constellation using Orion as the body and wings of a damselfly with its tail lit by Sirius.

We watched as Castor & Pollux in Gemini rose over the nearby high-rise buildings. One by one, the sleepy windows of the apartments flickered on to a lazy Sunday dawn. MacDonald's for breakfast, (this group didn't sleep a wink) and a round of morning jokes from Jermyn.

2 September 2001,  Sunday. A busy day indeed. 4 hours later, I was out at East Coast canoeing along the eastern shore lines with my cousin, Mary-Anne. The sun on our backs. The waters look so dull; Dead organic matter completed the seascape. Would Tioman island be any better? I'd find out for myself in 24 hours anyway. I skimmed off the thought and set out on a speed chase after Mary-Anne.

Dinner, home, there was some NUS pageant /retro party at Grease that would've been fun, but I ain't even packed yet.

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 1 - 03 September, Monday.

5.30am.. I'd barely managed another 3 hours of sleep. I awoke to a shrieking clock that would've gotten the boot and hammer from me had it not belonged to my brother. I've never had a healthy relationship with shrill alarm clocks. I had to assemble at NTU in 2 hours. For the first time since primary school days, my brother and I sat down to a real breakfast. Himself barely clearing 2 hours of sleep after the party at Grease. His friend won the pageant, I heard. :)

7.30am.. Arrived at the Chinese Heritage Centre carpark. The handful who had already arrived didn't look like they amounted to 88 participants. I'd joined the trip knowing only one person: Ban Chon. My brother had this incredulous look on his face when he heard my reply to his question of where-are-your-friends.

We settled down by the edge of the road. Both of us idly scanning the carpark as more people trickled in. Morning faces in want of sleep but negated by the thrill of an impending trip. Everyone was in a chatty mood.. Getting to know people will have to wait, I need sleep..

(Note: Then-strangers, now-friends.. here are my accounts of the who, when, where.. enjoy. :)

(Dave & Ricky) To our left were two guys with tripods and camera bags. Manfotto, I noted. Nikon, as one of them (Rick) held one lens to the light. Photographers on the prowl. Cool. They should be having fun. The Manfotto tripod design was so visually captivating to me. Somehow, I knew I was gonna encounter these guys soon enough.

My brother elbowed my attention to the girl sitting to my right. "Oy. Talk to her leh." Oh.. ok.. ;) "Harlow, are you here by yourself?" "No. I'm waiting for two other friends." "Ok, I'm Lin." "Bernardee." Shook hands. "Bernadee, my brother, Gin. Gin, Bernadee." "Hi." "Hello." I should choke on my own mischief. (Now you know, Bernadee.. ;) Bernadee's friends arrived, Poh Ling (I'd heard Pauline at first) and Huishan. We got to a little chatter and I accepted their offer to bunk in with them.

More people arrived, together with Ban Chon, at which point my brother left for home. The committee bunch, for sure, looking at the amount of things they were carrying. There was a group of girls who looked like they were getting ready for a party night out in Orchard, than island-adventuring. But hey, if they can tackle this trip in platform shoes, that's remarkable enough.

Boarded the bus by 8.45am.. for a moment it felt strange, then I realised why. Everyone around me was talking in Mandarin.. not the way Singaporeans spoke it, but actual Chinese Mandarin (non-Taiwan version). That was when I figured half the bus were Chinese nationals. This should be interesting. We hit the customs by 9.30am, possibly clearing both sides by 10.30am. There was some delay. Apparently one of the participants had not cleared her visa, and was to be deported back to Singapore.

Bus transfer. Roll-call. We were on our way by 11am. I'd pretty much drifted to minimum consciousness by the time I found a seat on the new bus. I didn't even hear the roll-call by this nice chap (Willie) who seemed to have spent the past 3 hours running around looking for participants. Once the bus got on its way, the Zzzs fell in. When next I awoke, we had stopped for a break and were an hour away from Mersing. Roll-call again. Zzz. Mersing town. 2pm. Cloudy, a typical signature of all good astro trips here, I recollected.

Lunch break, 20 minutes. I darted down to town to get some provisions. Bad move. Thunderclouds moved in and rain pelted to the ground. I had 5 minutes to make my way back to the group. Heck, it's only water, and I was perfectly soaked upon reaching the group. Oh what joy. Hadn't played in the rain for some time. A change of T-shirts and we were off to the jetty. The rain had ceased to a few drops. Getting onto the boat wasn't too bad. The after-rain-storm-waves were rocking it moderately. Nice comfy boat though.

I made my way up to the second deck and stayed up there for the rest of the 2-hour voyage. The sea was still rather choppy, which was fun by my definition. A few of the girls got seasick though. The waves that crashed against the boat, sent intermittent salty sprays raining onto the second deck. I can't tell if the others are howling in horror or delight, but I was immensely enjoying the sea, sprays et al.. Cool.. :) It was up here that I got to know Helen and Hanting.

The sun was already blazing through a patchy hole in the sky. We saw 3 jellyfish float by as the boat sped on. A sliver fish skimming between air and water in the near distance brought many excited fingers tracing its trejectory. Hanting persistently promising the sea that he would jump right in the moment he hit shore. :)

4.30pm.. Arrival at Tioman, Mukut. The waves were slamming the boat against the concrete steps of the jetty. Crossing over to land is going to require a little help. It was a regular jetty which led right up to the resort.

Roll-call again as we assembled at the main reception-dining area that was wholly constructed out of bamboo that showed part of the clear sea below, peeking through the slits of the bamboo. A utilitarian design since all the food that dropped through fed the fish swimming underneath, yet still in keeping with the character of a rustic sea village. An orange soup bowl was wedged between some rocks below.

Room-assignment; Room 6 with Bernardee, Poh Ling and Huishan. A nice pathway weaved between the ten 2-room chalets on stilts that stood individually amidst the coconut trees and small boulders. Room-check: Air-conditioned, double beds, hot shower (that didn't work), half & full flush toilet system, yet minus toilet paper.. I like it.

6.30pm.. Dinner by Chef Ah Foo (whoever that is..), rice, tom yam soup, steamed fish, vegetables, chicken, tofu.. and our table-mates were: Dave, Ricky, Dexing and Shihao. Introductions and conversation ensued with food. The moon was beginning to rise from the east just behind the jetty.. beautiful..

Dave and Rick finished Round 1 of dinner and scampered off to take in the moonlit scene. Tempted I was to join them yet lazy I also was to return to the room to get my camera. The moon glided higher between the coconut trees. Ok, photo urge.. I got my camera and tripod out.

Briefing on tomorrow's snorkel-trip. Absorbed in my own moonlit world, I barely heeded a single word. Group up, I think they said. Ok, I'm with whichever group that has the extra room: Group C.. the committee group. (The start of a long day of fun.)

9pm.. Stargazing that night (and the night after) was at the jetty which had totally unobstructed viewing on the east-south-west horizons. Behind us, hills rose to a 20-degree view obstruction. Mars, Sagittarius and Scorpius were sinking towards the southwest. Patchy clouds came and went throughout the night. Telescopes ready, off a-hunting we go.

C 5, C 6, C 8, and a couple of binoculars. Here are the starlogs for both nights of observation:
Mars
At 100x, it was little more than a dull orange disc. I wasn't sure if the dust storm had passed. Details are barely hinted at tonight.
Scorpius - 30x
M4 globular cluster: Faintly glowing, possibly dimmed out by the moon but it's there. The C 8 has a better light grasp on it.
M6 Butterfly cluster: As lovely as ever. Though I seem to be visualizing a dragonfly outline. A faintly yellowish star in the group that could only be BM Scorpii.
M7 open cluster: Naked-eye visible. A deformed butterfly pattern then, for I seem to forever have some difficulty distinguishing this from M6. The cluster is more open with 5 more dominant stars in a cross-like pattern.
In the vicinity of h4889, Mu1 & Mu2 Scorpii, a wide double easily separated in the 6x finder.
Travelling down south towards Zeta1 & Zeta2 Scorpii, a small open cluster NGC 6242. Can't really see where the orange colour is purported to be. Scattered stars throughout the eyepiece. A loose grouping, possibly Collinder 316. A nice open cluster NGC 6231, near three beautiful Zeta gems of pale blue, orange and white.
Sagittarius - 30x
M8 Lagoon nebula: A wispy nebula in the 6x finder. At 40x, the cluster of stars showed within. At higher magnification, nebula detail faltered.
The visible milky way was washed out though sweeping along binocularly, the star fields were rich.
Cygnus - 30x
Omicron1, Omicron2 - Contrasting double-double: Near 30 Cygni a pair of light blue, yellow-orange set. At 50x, they looked more like white stars tinged with blue and yellow.. Atmosphere appears fiercely twinkly. Did not manage to split the double's double.
M29 open cluster: A nice asterism of about 8 bright stars. From Gamma Cygni (Sadr) in the direction of Beta Cygni (Albireo). Another rich patch of stars along this line.
NGC 6888 was a small group of scattered stars, no nebulosity seen.
Albireo Beta Cygni: One more blue-gold pair. Much more saturated colours than the earlier pairs.
Lyra - 30x
And what's the night with a donut from M57 - Ring nebula: The C 8 resolves it most elegantly with a circle of smoke at 100x. Maybe I should imagine a dead star in its center, but I couldn't see one.
Taurus - 30x
M45 - Pleiades open cluster: Still an all-time favourite and a crowd-pleaser. These is one stellar group that can never go out of fashion.
Orion - 30x
M42 - Orion nebula: A pretty one that's just as popular. The trapezium of stars were clearly visible.. (oh, wait, I cannot remember if I saw this in Tioman as well but we sure saw it at Pasir Ris..)
Saturn - 30x - 100x
with rings.. :)

The full moon waning, an accompaniment to the night. Crystal waters sparkling under the moonlight.. I could see the pebbles right at the bottom. Moon-gazing was inevitable. The group tried this way and that to get a glimpse of an almost blinding orb. They finally projected the image onto a piece of paper and has a good time clicking film to that.

The first night we packed up at 3am, knowing that we'd have to be up again at 8am to catch a boat out to sea. I wondered what was for breakfast.. "Big breakfast, MacDonald-style.." someone replied. Yeah, rite..

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 2 - 04 September, Tuesday.

Day 1 didn't feel right for photography, if only because I was trying to figure out how receptive to the camera, the human subjects would be. The moment I got to know them better, the clicking came naturally. :)

8 am. Breakfast, no kidding.. almost Mac.. with toast, egg, jam, butter, sausage, and baked beans.

Bright and sunny would describe the entire day. We checked out our life-jackets and snorkel-gear. Four boats would bring us up north of Tioman to the Marine Park.

The wind on our backs.. also created huge waves which gave some of us huge yelps of sea-coasting fun (and others huge gulps of sea-sickness..).

I'd forgotten how much I miss the sea. It'd been quite a while since I last rode the waves. I stood up on deck, both hands locked on a wooden column in the bow, as huge waves collided head-on with the puny but steadfast boat. It leapt skywards a couple of feet, the momentum carrying all of us along for the ride in the air before it smashed against the watery surface. Everyone was jolted, concerned ones yelling with the roar of the waves for me to stay down. So sweet of them.. :) I complied though it was less fun.

I sighed. A true moment of content and absolute peace despite the oceanic rock and roll. I lay my head down and closed my eyes, destined for a little nap.. which also got a concerned P.K. wondering if I was sea-sick.. *lol!* No, I replied.. I'm gonna fall asleep.. :)

Some of the other guys picked up on the sea-surfing bit, and had their hands locked to the wooden column. It was too crowded up front so I moved to the back, bent on getting some more sleep. I was surprised to discover more people at the stern; Dave and Rick had been quietly enjoying their piece of the boat. Dave's life-jacket sure made for a good pillow. Zzz..

We'd docked at another jetty. I wasn't sure how long it'd been. I remember feeling the sun burn. Berjaya Beach Resort. A wonderful stretch of beach, many tourists. We'd stopped here for an hour of touring, I guess.

I'd parked myself on one of its beach-side lounge chairs. More sighs.. This is *life*.. The wind rustling the leaves of strategically planted coconut trees, the waves lapping up the sands. I wasn't sure where everyone else had headed. I'd lost them after a while. (They had apparently gone swimming a little further up the beach.)

After a bit of lazing, I wandered off and found Bernardee, Huishan and Poh Ling.. rather, they found me. There was a playground I hadn't notice. The lonesome pair Rick and Dave on the swings. They turned around for a photo. Dexing and Shyh Haur appeared from somewhere and took on the see-saw trying to outbalance each other. I saw this other contraption that I could only identify as similar to those wheelbarrels that people make hamsters run on. Not easy stuff, mind you! (Yes, I tried.) I gravitated to the slide where Bernardee and Poh Ling had just finished a round of photos at.

12.45pm.. Regroup. Two photo opportunities caught my eye: by the coastline, and on the jetty. After much dallying, we were *all* finally on the jetty. The boatmen-in-charge had to shoo us off it into our respective boats.

The second leg of the journey towards the Marine Park. We were all ready, I was prepping my goggles with spit.

At the jetty, one of the guides gave a 5-minute crash course on snorkeling. I heard a small part of his lecture in Mandarin, "Keep a serious face.."

Ok, that was all I heard (I did say "a small part") before I headed for the water.. a chorus of laughter from the ones who finished hearing his sentence.

As some of the guys "Jerominoed!!" off the top into the deep end, I chose to use the ladder down. I wouldn't care to injure any fish that might be swimming pass the deep end.

The water was refreshingly cool, and was immediately greeted by a curious school of small fish hanging out by the ladder. I floated my way towards the plastic island buoy in the middle. Oh boy, *big* fish. The area was cordoned off with nets and buoys further out at sea. Good idea. The species within the net grounds were friendly enough. It would seem they were harboured here for tourists to feed and get fat.. (probably sold to the markets later..) The biggest fish was just over a foot-long.

For a couple of minutes, the few of us who got into the waters first had encountered a couple of schools. I'm no fish expert but I think most were of the edible species. After everyone got into the area, the fish seemed to disappear for a while. Not a moment later, they seemed to be in a frenzy. Ohh.. lunchtime for the fish. Slices of bread crust were liberally thrown in by someone on the top of the jetty. Fish, human and breadcrumbs mixed in a strange sea soup.

I plucked a few pieces of bread from the surface and fed the fish by hand. Most seem to be debating between hunger and fear of us. They would dart in to take quick nips of what they can and speed off again. Oh man, that was cool.. I didn't know fish ate bread with such gusto. I tried to touch those that were nipping food off my hands. Cold and slippery. Some in their feeding frenzy were nipping at my fingers but it would seem they have no teeth.. I let out a grin.. *Bad move.*

Seawater gushed into my goggles. I choked as the salt-concentrated liquid seeped into my nasal passage. Hot DANG! The salt stung; I couldn't breathe and was too far away from the buoy. I floundered a bit and scared off the fish. I made my way to the buoy and got the guys on deck to hoist me up. More concerned looks as I coughed out the salty stuff. "I was smiling at the fish.." I think it was Hanting who amusedly clucked, "Didn't you hear what that guy said? Don't smile at the fish, keep a serious face.. or you'll get water in."

Oh.. heck.. I turned away and spat out the rest of my chagrined ignorance. Dang! the salt so leaves the nasal passage smarting. I've snorkelled before, but never had such a fun time with the fish to smile at them...

Tough lesson learnt: I will never smile at a pretty fish again underwater.

Hanging out on the island buoy with a couple of others, peeling pieces of wet bread, and skimming them across the water surface brought the fish up for food. (By the way, the bread crust was really fragrant.) I saw some really pretty rainbow fish. They really were an artistic riot of green, lavender, pink, magenta, cyan, yellow. And the only thing I could think of was, no camera to take them fish. :(

A final dive and we were off to another coral area. We hosed off the salt with fresh water and got onto the boats. Lunchtime for humans. Nasi lemak with chicken, sausage, egg.. There was an extra packet of food on our boat. It was then that I first noticed we had a boat captain of sorts. His name: Ah Foo.. (I only found out much later that he was the chef.)

He offered the extra packet around, gave the chicken out, and when nobody wanted the rest, he simply dumped it, fried egg and all into the sea.. (minus the polystyrene box, of course..) and the fish came after the food with equal gusto, nipping at the floating egg. Those fish will be headed for a major artery clog.

The next dive site was barricaded only by a nearby rock formation that buffeted the bigger waves from the open sea. The schools here were smaller, the coral features look more extensive. I passed up the opportunity on this dive, staying on board for some casual photography of the others snorkelling.

A day of content and contents. I could get used to a life at sea. On our way back, the sea was much calmer, the ride smoother. Some fell asleep, others shared jokes at the boat's bow. Dave, Rick, and Ein hanging out at the stern. I stood at the bow for a good part of our journey back to the resort, mesmerized by the swirling emerald waters as the boat forged ahead. Occasionally, I took a few shots. A Malay boy of no more than 13 years piloted the boat while his elder brother napped.

A commercial light plane landed on the main island's hidden runway. A military copter dived in low above our boats. A huge red jellyfish of perhaps 2 feet in diameter floated by starboard side.

5pm.. Arrival. Already, they had a volleyball match in tow at 5.30pm.. Poh Ling and Huishan joined in while Bernardee and I opted for sleep. Bernardee was substantially sunburnt. Dinner at 8pm. It was a personal struggle to decide between more sleep and food. Finally, I straggled out with everyone else at 8.30pm.. Dinner was already in progress..

9.30pm.. Bernardee, Poh Ling, Huishan and I started on the cards, too lazy to return to our room after dinner. For the first time in 2 days, we got acquainted with Raymond at the resort, who was quite possibly a champion at "Tai Di". Hey, the man had strategies for winning.. we common-card-folk just want to get rid of our cards.

Stargazing would ensue for the whole night till dawn. This being the final night, few were vowing to stay awake till dawn. They brought out the guitar and were soon on karaoke-high. Others were playing cards by the moonlight. As always, a dose of ghost stories too.. (Apparently, Rooms 13, 14, 15, 16.. have had night visitations a-knocking on their doors.) Soon, a set of mind-games kept everyone awake and guessing.

By 4am, only a handful of us were left on the jetty: Willie, Dexing, Kumar, Poh Ling, Sabrina, Huiling, and myself.

5am.. We had gravitated to the balcony at the main reception as the night cooled. They were still binocular-hunting as Taurus and Orion drew higher. Saturn, Jupiter, Venus. I drew a chair right up front of the balcony, the front row audience.

"What's that bright star over there by the edge of the coconut tree?" Willie pointed excitedly as everyone else checked maps and aimed binoculars. "Capella.." I replied..

In the few seconds of silence that ensued, I watched as the sky slowly lightened blue. This was one of the most enthusiastic groups ever. After a long day of activities, they were still awake. "It's so nice out here, so beautiful, y'think?" I thought out loud. Silence. I thought they were all in silent awe. I turned back to look at them. Only Dexing looked at me and grinned.. the rest were fast asleep in their chairs. I grinned. Oh well.. they did survive till dawn.. and they well deserved their sleep.

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 3 - 05 September, Wednesday. 

The last day.. I so couldn't wake up..

We checked out by 11am. A couple of parting shots from the balcony. The journey home was even more fun than the journey there, if only because, I now know a number of them. :)

7pm.. Singapore.. Group dinner at Jurong Point. Home was not too far away..Thanks, everyone! I can't wait for the next island hop.



By Lin . 7th September 2001, Friday.

Morning Coffee & the Planets

Five planets in one night.. I'm missing four more to complete the Solar System collection. With the KK Wide Scan II 30mm eyepiece, the stars never looked better. July 2001 : ..and the exhibition's public tour continues to the schools. Mars' perigee has come and gone. A dust storm is brewing on the red planet's surface. A partial lunar eclipse this month (July 05, umbral eclipse starts 9.35pm- Maximum eclipse at 10.55pm - umbral eclipse ends 12.15am Singapore time) and a fading comet Linear in Cetus-Pisces region. 21-22 July 2001 (Johor, Malaysia)

A weekend trip out with friends. The morning march of four planets has been a topic for a while. The slogan should have been: "Get a natural high. See stars and planets. (No caffeine added.)"

Using the WYO FluoroStar100 f/8 with KK Wide Scan Type II 30mm, a 2-inch eyepiece with an 84-degrees field of view.

A crystal view of the universe and I have never been this up close and personal with the stars. One look through the Wide Scan II and you'll fall in love with the stars all over again.

Higher magnifications with a 2x barlow and 5mm eyepiece. The rough observation report is:
Mars
Surface details were fuzzy at best with the barest smattering of dark markings. A thick mass of rain clouds sweeping in from the west side; It barely skimmed past with lightning hints of what it could bring..
clouds,
Mars again,
clouds again,
distant lightning,
more clouds,
Mars,
Zzzzzzz......
ohh!! Stars!!
Hyades, Aldebaran in Taurus, and Saturn
Is it turning our way? because it looks as if we're gonna be able to see the other side of the rings behind the planet.. bands striped across its surface.. Cassini divisions visible..
M45 Pleiades, Taurus
Swell little cluster.. it never fails to look good.. :) stars filled from edge to edge.. I don't see distortion, I don't see coma and colour rendition with the Wide Scan II eyepiece is just *so* fine! my gosh, the view is absolutely stunning.. you get the whole view of the Pleiades cluster inside this babe. You know how some people describe the Pleiades as a group of blue fireflies.. I never knew what that meant till now.
M31 Andromeda galaxy, Andromeda
This is a real beauty.. central core brightness with the glow of diffusing arms gently swirled around it. Dang.. I forgot to take note of M32, M110..
M33 Pinwheel galaxy, Triangulum
Somewhat fainter than M31, more round and the central core was relatively bright.. it was only 2/3 the size of M31.
Venus
Bright waxing gibbous phase.. slightly more than half. I don't see any clouds on the atmosphere.. I hear about them, I don't see them. Dang planet's just too bright. :)
Jupiter
Major band lines across the body, no GRS visible.. 4 satellites as per usual serving.. :)
Mercury
Ahh! Finally.. it was almost the same distance from Jupiter as Venus is. It was nervy trying to figure if it was ever going to rise before the sun did. The sky was lightening up considerably. Finally, my friend's hawk eyes caught something that had almost the same magnitude as Saturn just above the distant trees. That was exciting. A look at Mercury showed half phase.. wow indeed.
Comet Linear
Tried to hunt for comet Linear, but gave up craning to see through the finder. It was directly overhead.

Binocular-wise, I swept through the clusters of the Milky Way through Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus. I caught sight of some familiar pieces like the Perseus double cluster. As for the others I got too lazy to check in with an atlas. It was just an appreciation session.

I could recognize the square of Pegasus, the star of Alpheratz that joined Andromeda to it. The Summer Triangle constellations of Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila to the Northwest. Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Perseus to the North. Taurus and Orion rising.

I mused out loud my wonderings about what other constellations flew to the South above us. I never was much of a Southern Sky-smart person beyond Crux and Centaurus. Vincent threw me a mock look of shock and horror, "You don't know?! How can you not know?!" *lol!*

I figured that if I didn't memorize all the constellations or DSOs, it'll be more fun searching it out on the field. Sure it makes for a little work, but that's the fun part. To see half the known universe as an astronomer would; To see the other unknown half as a new initiate to the stars will. Somehow this balance strikes a perfect chord with me. I don't mind not knowing everything in the universe. :)

Vincent sighed that I was undermining my full potential as an astronomer. I think I'm just too laidback mentally. (Turns out to be Pisces, Aquarius, Capricornus, Piscis Austrinus, Cetus, Grus.)

Orion was rising with the sun, too late to see much. Now if I could have caught this planetary moment with a waning moon, the scene would be perfect. Well, can't have everything in the universe. (I got a new moon.)

By Lin . 22nd July 2001, Sunday.

AstroBash!VII : Dear Jacksen

"At this point in time, I have absolutely devoted all of my available time to Astronomy 2001 Singapore. I have precious little time to observe the transition of the planets and constellations, solar and lunar, much less to photograph them for now. The solar spots have been a storm; Mars has been growing too. Soon, soon.. I'm glad to even get a few days off to go stargazing." 25 to 27 May 2001 (Gunung Ledang, Malaysia)

Dear Jacksen,

Gunung Ledang Resort's probably one of the most comfy places AstroBash was ever held at. There's a swimming pool, an air-conditioned in-house café which has local dishes like Nasi Goreng to Fish'n'Chips. A huge helicopter landing area / carpark, which served as our observation grounds at night. A few steps away, a nature trail and waterfalls.

Day 1 was the usual ice-breakers though I must say the Organizing Committee has gotten *very* creative this time.. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun breaking anything. In particular was this weird treasure hunt of sorts. They wanted stuff like 2 slugs, 2 dead-or-alive mosquitoes, 7 bites per group, and the darnest thing was, I couldn't find a single mosquito carcass.

The food was excellent, the servings were most generous.. I should be raving about the service.. I haven't been to an AB party where in the middle of an observation at 10.30pm, I could just stroll out a few steps to the café and order a nice cup of hot chocolate.. *sigh!*

The first night was pleasant. After a buffet dinner, we saw Alpha and Beta Centauri in Centaurus with Crux, twinkling merrily towards the south-west side. A hint of things to come. It was still a little wispy with clouds, but the skies cleared up an hour later. The Comm brought out the C 5 and C 8 scopes and we were soon ferreting the night sky.

Constellation-wise, Sagittarius and Scorpius were overhead by midnight. The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) to the north. Near Antares in Scorpius, the planet Mars. A little further out north, two other brighter stars, Arcturus in Bootes and Spica in Virgo; Leo sliding down to sleep in the west. The summer triangle of stars Altair in Aquila, Vega in Lyra, and Deneb in Cygnus, were beginning to rise. The water signs of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces followed alongside.

There was a little debate going on about "who" was redder. Apparently, we had 3 persons in the group with e-mails or ICQ nicknames related to Mars, Arcturus and Antares. Heck, they all looked about the same to me, Arcturus a little fainter than the orangey Antares, but Mars wins without contest.

The first object to find was Mars. The C 8's collimation was a little off, so the image was slightly blurred. I could still see some dark markings on Mars with a slight touch of white caps at the polar regions. We managed a glimpse at the Omega Centauri cluster before it set. A delectable glob of stars, one of the finest in the sky. The open clusters M6 & M7 in Scorpius, oh.. and we saw M17's Swan nebula.

With the groundsheets out, we took a couple of pillows from the room and simply relaxed under the stars. The helicopter pad was a clean concrete area, and best of all, insect-free! The resort manager kindly turned out all the lights after 12. A few shooting stars threw themselves randomly across the night.

Most of the group had retired by 2am in anticipation of the next day's climb up Mt. Ophir. For those who had stayed up the whole of the first night, Jeannie, Qihui, Peiying, Caiping, Juncai and myself (from Room 106), Choon Guan and 2 others, we got the see the Milky Way from Scorpius to Cygnus.. the most beautiful stretch of stars forming the summer Milky Way.

The rest of us cleared out at 5am.. which also meant we could barely wake up at 9am to set out for the climb. We would soon find ourselves in the midst of an adventure because of this. The first group had set out by 9.30am.. Qihui, Juncai and Jeannie were keen on the climb but decided on breakfast prior. Peiying, Caiping and I joined them for a short hike up to the first set of waterfalls before we parted ways. The 3 of us returned to the resort whilst the 3 of them continued their climb.

Day 2 was mainly hanging out by the nearby stream, and playing ball with Serena, her 2 friends, Caiping, and Celeste, in the pool till evening when the next batch of folks who would take the van up Mt. Ophir and meet the first group there with packets of dinner. Two of us remained, and I jumped right back into the pool.

We went out for dinner and returned by 9pm, which was the beginning of a huge drama. Jeannie, Qihui, and Juncai, never did rendezvoused with the first group. With all the wild speculations that flew around about their getting lost, starving, falling off some cliff, in all a lot of worries and concerns.

There was simply no news of them, and the park rangers would not conduct a search and rescue until morning light, assuming they had gotten lost on the wrong side of the trail which they claimed was a treacherous one.

Another trekker overheard and apparently encountered them on the right trail which brought some sighs of relief. From now, it was a waiting game of when Jeannie would use her mobile to call me, since none of us could get a signal to her phone. I tell you, only Singaporeans would think to trek forests carrying such technology.

The second night continued in uncertain spirit.. many were now too tired to stay up and returned to sleep by 2am. I hung out with Vincent till maybe 3am whereupon a shower of rain sent me back to the room.

6am, my phone rang.. Jeannie!! Everyone was fine, they had survived the night and even made it to the top of Mt. Ophir. A happy group finally relaxed as we sent a van to collect them and their jungle escapade back to the resort. They arrived safe, sound, full of high spirits, scuffed and lots of dirt.

Guess you can get the full story from one of them. Too bad you couldn't make this trip. You'd have enjoyed it. I think there's a videotape somewhere on this AB.

:) Later,, Lin

By Lin . 30th May 2001, Wednesday.
For NUSAS Étoile publication Sept 2001.

First Light: SkySensor2000

"Ever seen the Milky Way in all its glory, a storm of golden lightning on the horizon and a host of meteors all at once? Whoa. Still I managed to get a couple of decent shots on my 4-camera assembly." 6 May 2000 (Mersing, Malaysia)

30th June, Friday, 4.30pm, we were loading up. This was going to be the first time my Mom and Dad were joining me on an astro-expedition. I can't say it was easy to convince them to go with me on "one of my crazy outings to nowhere to see stars." I had brought the idea up about two weeks back. Dad was paranoid about the customs and my equipment; Mom claimed she didn't hear my earlier announcement until the night before. This was SO not going well. Me and my brilliant plan to educate my parents about astronomy and the beauty of dark sites were starting out all wrong.

I'd spent the night before practicing mount-loading and a good part of the morning packing my stuff: Pentax105 & body holder; GPD & SS2k; eyepieces & adapters; guiding reticle and finder; wires; battery & charger; tripod, half-pier & counterweights; cameras & lenses; film; accessory plate; torchlight; more batteries; clothes.. everything seemed to be in place. I had two bags, one toolbox and one scope box. I checked and rechecked to make sure I had everything I needed for one night of astrophotography and another night of observation. after we loaded everything, I made a third check just to be sure.. there was a nagging feeling that I might have overlooked something.

This was my first solo trip out without fellow astronomers to fall back on to borrow odds and ends, one missing bolt was enough to ruin the night; What more that I had my parents to impress. Boiling it down to nerves, I ignored the feeling. 5.45pm, we were stuck at the Woodlands checkpoint. In the time we were crawling painfully over the Causeway, I was running through all possible customs scenarios in my mind, all of which had them pulling the car over for a check. Looks like my Dad's "tales of customs terror" were getting to me. I was not about to let them hold us back because of my equipment. (Dad had earlier related that his friend got held for five hours over a piece of old, rusted thing in his boot. I had to steel myself in the event they were going to try anything.) This can be such a mental pain in the cortex.

Malaysian checkpoint. We'd just collected our passports. I just remembered that I had locked my Pentax box and fumbled with the key to open it before the customs officers could ask.. the car drove on.. I looked up.. Huh?! This didn't look like the customs. Had we been pulled over? Where are the customs officers? Dad coolly replied we'd already passed them. We'd what?! It took my mind a long minute to register that I no longer had to fret. All RIIIIITE!!! I was all in a joyful noise. Looks like the causeway jam had an advantage after all.

6.30pm, another traffic jam along the Johor highway leading to Kota Tinggi. I don't care. We'd gotten past customs, that was it. I fell asleep. When next I awoke, we'd pulled over at Kota Tinggi for dinner. It was 8pm, clouded over and raining.

By the time we checked in at the resort, it was 10pm. My energy levels had perked up and I was setting up the base structure of my equipment for astrophotography. I had convinced my Dad to drive me out to Teluk Sari. Mom was being Mom with her barricade of reasons NOT to go anywhere else because it was already too late and too dark. *DUH!!* When else are we going to see stars? In the day?!

I was attaching cameras and adapters to the accessory plate when suddenly it hit me: I had forgotten to bring my guidescope!! *OH MAN!* The Pentax was too heavy to be configured in with four cameras; Balancing would be tough. *Argh!* I cannot believe my stupidity! I brought the adapters and guiding eyepiece but not the guidescope.. ooh, I was SO strangled by this.

Looking out at the sky from the chalet. The clouds were gone and in spite of the two really bright lamp posts to the left of the chalet, Scorpius and Sagittarius were beaming down at me! Worse! The Milky Way was out in full array AND ME WITHOUT MY GUIDESCOPE!! Oh, I could kill myself..

I was too tired to rethink configuration load and elected to drive something else other than my mind crazy: the SkySensor2000. And since it would a visual night, the open patch outside the chalet would be sufficient. Setting up the equipment was easy enough. This would be the second time I'm trying the SS2k's three-point alignment. (The first time was a total disaster with the scope pointing the wrong way, the motors failing to respond.) I'd since been practicing and running motor and GOTO trials at home. I figured I was ready to take on the stars.

A rough alignment North from past memory of where the sun rose. (I need a compass.) I selected a reference star: Antares (Scorpius). I took a deep breath as I depressed the GOTO button. *WHHIIIRRRRRRRR!!!* GPD responded in a split-second at 1500x speed turning RA and Dec simultaneously. That in itself was quite an amazing thing to watch. The motors slowed to a stop. Antares was several degrees off and I had to do some adjustments. When I finally had Antares in centre view, it was so satisfying to hear the beep registering 1-star alignment confirmation. I set the Quikfinder and was off looking for my next star.. Altair (Aquila). The motors were zooming in. This time, the star was in the periphery of eyepiece, not centred but an improvement over Antares. 2-star alignment beep. Next star: Vega in Lyra. This time it was right in the middle. Excellent! 3-point alignment beep. (I could get used to this. :) Just for the heck of it, Deneb in Cygnus. Right on!

I sent the scope back to Scorpius region and WATCH OUT UNIVERSE, HERE I COME!

From Scorpius: M4 gc; NGC 6231 oc; NGC 6242 oc; NGC 6281 oc; NGC 6441 gc; M7 oc; M6 oc (Butterfly) : Superb! I was proudly showing off to Mom (who found it tough to get her eyes in the right place to view through the eyepiece and decided that sleep was much more fun) and Dad (who commented that they all looked like sandpaper to him). So much for stellar appreciation. I guess it's a similar case to how I'll never understand what exactly do people find so exciting about football.

From Sagittarius: M54 gc; M70 gc; M69 gc; NGC 6522 gc; NGC 6520 oc; M8 (Lagoon Nebula); M20 (Trifid Nebula); M21 oc; M28 gc; M22 gc; M25 oc; M24 (Star Cloud); M17 (Omega Nebula); M16 (Eagle Nebula); M23 oc; M9 gc; M19 gc; M62 gc : Oh WOW! Some of the fainter clusters were really small. I spent more time wowing the nebulae than the open clusters (oc) or globular clusters (gc). Even with the lights at the chalet, I could still discern nebulosity in M16 and M17. I could see the Number 2-shaped nebula in M17 quite clearly. Lagoon Nebula was a fuzzy flower-like patch. (Dad was still up. He definitely preferred the nebulae.) Trifid was particularly interesting; Two cloudy patches exactly like the one in pictures but in greyscale. One patch was visibly of a different wavelength from the other. The skies were more than excellent. Not to sound pompous but the clusters were beginning to get boring. The SS2k was making it all too easy for me. I was seeing more this night than all my observation nights combined. It is overwhelming. So here I am showing off to you too and it probably sounds like I'm gloating but I sure am not exaggerating. This more than makes up for not bringing the guidescope. :)

Wait! There's more! From Aquila: NGC 6823 oc; M71 gc; M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) : Ooh.. M27 is looking a lot like a dumbbell tonight. Regret tinge my mind at not being able to do photography, but I guess the visual loaf is better than none at all.. hey, it could've been raining the whole night through.

From Lyra: M57 (Ring Nebula) : Now M57 was somewhat of a blooper. When the SS2k stopped, the scope showed four bright stars. Try as I did, I couldn't figure out why there were four stars and no doughnut. At first I thought the SS2k was kicking up a fuss at being abused on its second night out. I commanded it to Vega and it complied, centering the star beautifully. Odd. I sent it back to M57. Four stars. Ok. Where's the doughnut?! It took me a LONG while staring through the eyepiece till my vision was blurred before suddenly a quirky movement jolted my attention to the middle star that was NOT a star because there was a hole in the middle. *Ack!* I slapped my forehead. You mean M57 was that bright and THAT small?! I pumped up the magnification but the kidney effect of the eyepiece was eluding my already failing vision. I wasn't about to give up. I furiously repositioned my eye, determined to see M57 up close. When my left eye gave up, my right one took over. That got me occupied a good ten minutes. When I finally saw it, I was beside myself with joy and congratulated myself. This has got to be the craziest moment of my observations ever; Twenty minutes on M57. That was it, I had it with this side of the sky. :) I gave NGC 7000 (N. American Nebula) a miss.

I was eager to see Andromeda and Cassiopeia. I wanted a galaxy. No, I NEEDED a galaxy to end this feast. Sadly, the Northeast side was blocked by the lights and trees. It was already 5am, although it felt as if the night had barely begun. The constellations were just not turning fast enough to catch up with the SS2k. I couldn't wait to get back home and share.. ok, gloat :) about this to the other guys. One of them had playfully cursed my trip with rain, and now he can take his rain and drink it! *lol!* :)

Ok, that was more than enough confidence boosting for one night. I still have tomorrow night to conquer. Zzz.

1st July, Saturday; The day was fine, bright and hot. I roamed around the beach now and then. My parents and Uncle Roland had gone back to Johor to do some stuff. I hid in the cool shelter of the a/c chalet for most part to see if I could get at least two cameras attached with the scope. Precarious as the plate was not designed for this but achievable nonetheless. 3pm, I was back on the beach with my camera. That's where I met up with Jeremy, Debbie, Rebecca and Bethany. Now we'd have an audience for the night. :)

As with the previous night, rain swept across the evening sky. 10pm, everything cleared up, Scorpius and Sagittarius were back for round two. Jeremy and I drove up to Tg Resang; Everyone else was too tired to go gallivanting for stars. In about ten minutes, our equipment was up and raring to go. It was only then that Jeremy noticed a red light flashing intermittently. He drew my attention to it and I recognized it as the TASOS group's. They had used the signal before to notify other astronomers of their position. Thing was, the both of us had already set up our stuff and I wasn't feeling all too energetic to move it across the breadth of the field to the other side. So we stayed put. Let the alignments begin. :)

I was still getting used to the speed and sound of the SS2k. It drowned out the crickets and amphibians as it zoomed towards its first star. Jeremy has the SS3D which was so quiet in its efficiency. That night I discovered that I couldn't use Messier objects to align. An hour later, a flashlight strolled towards us from the TASOS group; Michael had spotted us when we came in and had been observing us via binoculars as we settled in. It was his red light that we saw. There were five of them doing CCD and photography at the other end but the sky wasn't too favourable, according to Michael. The high clouds were hazing in and out, thwarting drift alignment and guide stars.

After a short while, Michael left to rejoin the group. Jeremy and I zoomed off in search of a couple more Messier and NGC objects before the clouds started to roll in again at 1.30am. I did try for a faint 9th-magnitude barred spiral galaxy but there was too much interference from the clouds. That's when Jeremy suggested that we call it a day and I told him I wouldn't mind calling it a night. *lol!* (Ahh.. the beauty of language. :) We returned to the chalet at 2.10am. I guess the weather remained that way for the rest of the night.

Not too bad for a solo trip. I am rather pleased with the SS2k.. Ok, I'm more than jubilant and way over the moons of Jupiter. I've never seen so much in so short a time. All that time spent hunting when we could be observing. Still, I guess that's the whole challenge, not to mention a whole skill in itself. The GOTO hunters are probably the next generation of amateur astronomers who are going to have the entire universe at their feet.. erm.. fingers. Way cool. :)

By Lin . 2nd July 2000, Sunday.

AstroBASH!III : the NUSAS Star Party

"This was our third star party and first overland trip to Tanjung Sedili - a rustic getaway lazing on the east coast of Malaysia. 21 amateur astronomers, amateur *city* astronomers, most of whom are about to be initiated into the physical world which inspired the mappers of the URANOMETRIA. With open skies to North and East, and little city glare, the chances of having good stargazing settings were high." 14-16 June 1999  (Sedili, Malaysia)

It was everything I had hoped for.. except for the black sand, which wasn't really "black sand" but pristine sand which had been polluted by I-have-no-idea-what. Pity. There were subtle hints that the place could have been a really beautiful white beach. But that's not what this article is about.

It's suppose to be about dark nights, great skies, many suns, zero Moon, and the only cloud-like thing that won't be cursed at is the Milky Way. Of course, no significant details shall be mentioned about insects. The fireflies were lovely. I think they were the only ones that flew around and DIDN'T bite.

In fact, I'll say the whole trip was great. Two glorious starry nights are worth the zombie-fied state that followed the time after dawn.

[14th / 15th night]

It was still heavily overcast at dinnertime and hopes of prospecting for stars that first night appeared bleak. A picture-perfect sunset awashed with a thousand hues appeared with the sea mirroring in kind. The clouds eventually dispersed at 8pm. Other than the occasional cirrocumulus, the night was otherwise excellent. The Big Dipper, just above the eastern sea, was the first constellation to greet the observation site that was located on a bay. Attention was given to Mizar, a visible double star system in Ursa Major. To the west, Leo was readily visible with Regulus twinkling brightly. Draco, Aquila, Cygnus, Lyra, Pisces, Aquarius, among other constellations, slowly made their way across the east side.

The Milky Way, which many mistook for a wisp of cloud, became clearer as the night wore on. Conditions improved greatly at around 3am when the hazy band stretched across the zenith. It poured out from Sagittarius' teapot, with Scorpius' tail dipping in, and Cygnus careening over its surface. Scorpius was strutting around gloriously. Antares, the heart of Scorpius, and the red rival to Mars (which was close to Spica in Virgo), was bloody brilliant. The M7 open cluster and NGC 6231 were discernible. M7 looked good through a pair of 7x50 binoculars. The hunt continued for star clusters and distant galaxies.

As the stars saturated the night, they overwhelmed the novices who had a challenging time figuring out the various constellations and asterisms. Someone in his stellar confusion, thought he had seen Orion, oblivious to the fact that Orion was on his personal June vacation from the night. Light sabres cut through the night as bright and focused torchlights were used to help these budding stargazers scan the myriad of stars and guide them around the star-speckled neighbourhood. Human ingenuity never fails in confusion. Soon, one of them discovered that myopic stargazers could simply remove the glasses they are wearing. A pair of unaided myopic eyes acts as a crude filter that allows only objects brighter than magnitude 0.0 to be visible. Known unofficially as "Kelvin's Zero Magnitude Filter", it proved to be a big help to many novice stargazers. (Kelvin was our cameraman for the trip.)

Other miscellaneous objects in the night sky included artificial satellites and meteors. The brighter satellites observed that evening numbered around four. While many were delighted to see these man-made shooting star wonders, meteors drew an even warmer response when spotted. At around 5am, The stars looked even brighter and many other stars that were previously too dim now appeared. By this time, Jupiter and Saturn have risen. It was a good chance to observe Saturn as the light polluted skies of Singapore mars most planetary details. Through a 6" Schmidt-Cassegrain, Saturn looked like (quote) "a yellow squashed hamburger", an apt description which many identified with. Over at Jupiter's, two of the Galilean moons were visible, together with the two brown bands on Jupiter.

The sun rose from behind the hills at around 6.30am. It showed itself bit by bit, against a background of orange, yellow and red formed by the clouds. The sun first revealed a little edge, then a bigger fragment, which grew into a semicircle. Eventually, the sun was totally visible. The clouds became a kaleidoscope of colours, changing with each moment as Helios awoke and continued on his path across the sky. Those who were patient enough to delay bedtime by an hour to catch the sunrise were justly rewarded. By this time, the sea had receded about 500 metres from shore, and one could literally walk across the seabed.

[15th / 16th night]

The second night was dedicated to astrophotography. The southern skies looked better this evening, with Crux and Ursa Major vying for attention. Unlike Singapore skies where only Alpha and Beta Centauri are visible, the whole shape of Chiron the Centaur could be made out clearly. Through a pair of binoculars, the Jewel Box in Crux enchanted many. The Ring, Swan and Dumbbell nebulae were also observed through the telescopes, much to the delight of many who saw them for the first time. The Ring nebula was a fuzzy patch with a pinhole-like opening which require the viewer to be visually gifted in order to glimpse it. Most could not quite see the pinhole in the nebulae. The Swan nebula was even more demanding on one's imagination to visualise a bird out of a fuzzy patch. The Dumbbell nebula looked more like an apple eaten to its core, than a gym apparatus.

Just when everyone thought the second night was better then the first, dark clouds suddenly marched across the sky, snuffing out all celestial bodies in its wake. All equipment was swiftly moved into shelter for fear of rain. For most, the second stargazing session had ended. Some of the more enthusiastic ones remained under the sky, hoping that it would clear. Though shorter than the first, the second session was still quite an eyeful.

By Lin . 25th June 1999, Friday.