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.

Of Planets, Moon and Leonids

"Target Saturn found. I was unprepared for the view around Saturn. Two small star-like points near this gas giant. I can only guess that one of them is the satellite Titan. The other one, I think is Rhea. These are the only two satellites that could be brighter than 10th magnitude. There was a third star-like point, but I think that one really could be a star." 17 November 2000 (Singapore)

It had been raining the day before, no, POURING with dark, ominous clouds on the horizon was more like it. There had been some plans for a Leonids observation this night with a couple of my friends, but given the portent warnings on the 16th, the observation plans for the 17th vapourized.

And guess what else vapourized too?! The bad weather, the clouds, the rain, the haze vanished on the evening of the 17th too!! *Arrghhh!* At about 7.30pm, only very low-lying clouds to the west side remained. Venus was shining hard and bright in dusky blue sky. I hurried home, mentally sequencing the quickest way to set-up my equipment.

Planetary photography. To do or not to do? That is the question. And I've never photographed Venus in the nude before. Heck, I've never even once peeked at Venus through a telescope before (although I honestly thought about it many times when I saw that heavenly body taking a dip in the evening skies). Tonight seemed like a good night to be bad and indulge myself in these wicked fantasies. *lol!* :)

8pm, equipment in place and ready to go. A little place orientation here: The kitchen balcony faces the west, the living room balcony faces the east. This means tonight, I get to voyeurise not one, but three heavenly bodies. Saturn and Jupiter were steadily rising over the eastern horizon. But first, Venus, before the Earth rotates her view below my visible horizon.

I was too lazy to fix the finder scope, so I manually moved my Pentax 105 at 20x through the sky within the vicinity of Venus. It wasn't long before a single highly luminous sphere of light fell into sight. Bright, very bright. At 140x, the view of Venus in her gibbous stage was dazzling. *whoa.* I need my sunglasses. I couldn't see any details on this glaringly bright planet. Venus was a brilliant shade of pure white-yellow, unlike the white-blue of Sirius. Talk about diamonds in the sky, Venus is easily the equivalent of the Hope diamond (minus the curse). Change of OTA. The WYO Fluoro Star 100 at 160x, Venus was still as scintillating.

A quick glance from the living room balcony showed that Saturn and Jupiter were now prime visual targets. I shifted my entire assembly from the kitchen balcony, through the kitchen, past the dining room, down two steps, across the living room and out onto the balcony. (Have I mentioned that astronomers without a permanent observing base need not sign up for gym membership ever?)

8.30pm, back to the Pentax OTA. Searching at 20x. Target Jupiter found. Tonight is a really good crystal-clear night. At 20x, I could see a few bands across Jupiter escorted by Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. In the same view, four fainter stars dotted the background. Jupiter and its four Galilean satellites I've seen before, but the four fainter stars dispersed around them were the first for me here in the city.

At 140x, Jupiter's creamy surface loomed in right before my eyes with its numerous brown bands. There was no GRS. Not yet anyway. I quickly checked out the Peterson field guide to put names to these bands. For the first time, I could match the Jovian northern & southern temperate / tropical / equatorial zones and belts. Very nice.

Next target : Saturn. Searching at 20x. Target Saturn found. I was unprepared for the view around Saturn. Two small star-like points near this gas giant. I can only guess that one of them is the satellite Titan. The other one, I think is Rhea. These are the only two satellites that could be brighter than 10th magnitude. There was a third star-like point, but I think that one really could be a star.

At 140x, the Cassini division sharply cut across the rings. Again, numerous narrow bands draped across the surface. The two star-like points of light remained steady. Definitely not stars.

This was an excellent photo opportunity. Given the unpredictable equatorial weather here in Singapore, I don't know when I'll have this chance again. I dragged Dad out to see this. (My continuing efforts to immerse my parents in astronomy.) "What's this one called?" Dad adjusted the focusing knob. "Saturn." I replied. "Very nice! Quick go get your mother!" Mom appeared behind as most mothers usually do by some uncanny instinct. "What?" she quipped. "Look! See! A planet." Dad relinquished the eyepiece to Mom. "What's this one called?" Mom asked as she furtively tried to get the image in place. She hasn't been able to master looking through the eyepiece for some strange reason. "Saturn." I repeated. "Satan. Ah." Mom nodded. I mentally slapped my forehead. "Sat-Turn, not Say-Tan! You know, like SAT-urday and TURN-the-knob?? Saturn!!" *sigh!* So much for planetary phonetics. Dad hurried off to get my brother who was in his room. I could hear the "Quick! Come see the planet Satan!" Good grief..

I left my parents at the telescope while I grabbed a new roll of film from the fridge. Camera locked and loaded. I gently shooed my parents away as I began my photography session. 9.15pm, the neighbours were returning from their Friday night outings. One neighbour from the opposite building had been observing me for a while. I merrily waved to her and she quickly ducked behind the stairs.

Between shots, my friends called up sporadically to spread news of the clear skies. I called up a couple more to pass the news. Orion has risen. Aldebaran was 4 o'clock from Jupiter's position. M45, Pleiades was easily visible with about 6 stars naked eye. Looking at M42, I saw 3 stars naked eye in the area.

By 10.15pm, Saturn was out of photographic line of sight, so I continued with Jupiter until 10.30pm. I packed up and went online, only to receive an e-mail from another friend reporting the peak of Leonids at 3am.

3am, I was still awake, I went back to the living room balcony, waiting for the Leonids. 3.15am, hungry. Grabbed a pack of Pizza sticks from the kitchen and returned to the balcony, patiently waiting for a meteor. The waning quarter Moon was out. A quick binocular view revealed ragged crater details. Shadows melted into Mare Serenitatis.

3.30am, I saw one quick flash past the left side of the Moon. I froze with a half-eaten pretzel in my mouth. Did I imagine that or did I really see one? Dang the streetlights and the blinding quarter Moon! I spent the next 5 minutes trying to simulate meteor flashes with my imagination. Ok, that didn't work, so it wasn't my imagination. I concentrated on the eastern sky. Another friend had claimed the meteor peak at 4am. Either ways, I wasn't seeing any meteors. Not with the light pollution around me.

3.45am, saw another out of the corner of my eye, another faint flash. Again, I questioned my imagination. 4am, OK, forget the meteor shower, I'm gonna grab some sleep. I'd long finished my Pizza sticks and the half jug of milk that I'd just drank had diluted my patience. Good night.

The following morning, a friend called to tell me that the skies in Malaysia were equally good and that at its peak, fellow astronomers saw 1 meteor per second.

By Lin . 18th November 2000, Saturday.

Gas Giants Gazing

11 November 2000 : GAS GIANTS GAZING :
Starring the WYO Fluoro Star 100 (Singapore)

The past few nights have been cloudy with not much hope of seeing even a moonbeam. I received the Fluoro Star 100 on Wednesday morning via Emery Shipping. I had received a call saying that the telescope had arrived in Singapore on Monday, 6th November, but they had to clear some customs check which would take a day of processing. Do note that the customs has every legal right to open up the package without prior permission of the recipient or sender.

The Fluoro Star OTA arrived with an aluminum case fully lined with high density foam. Its identity keeps getting confused with the old TMB which looked pretty similar to the WYO (well, it had the same designer, William Yang.) The exterior was a classy coat of pearl-white, with a touch of 18-carat gold plating around the 4-inch focuser and extendable dew-cap. The scope itself was already a visual treat but can it pass the ultimate test of visual astronomy?

Tonight, a group from the Singastro community got together at Eunos to catch the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. It had been raining earlier in the afternoon. I prepped the Fluoro Star for its first public appearance here in Singapore. The full moon was fogged up at 8pm. I kinda expected to head home should the weather not get better. Guess what?! The clouds turned away by 8.30pm. Jupiter was first spotted, followed by Saturn. *All rite!* Party time! :)

When everyone was present, the Fluoro Star's presence was announced. That probably took some by surprise. I gave a short commentary on the scope and it was observation time! (All possible digits crossed for the visual verdict.)

Jupiter at 160x. The image was excellent despite the boiling atmosphere. Distinct bands across the planet could be seen together with 4 of its satellites.

Jump to Saturn at 160x. Again, distinct bands across the planet, and the Cassini division separating the rings around Saturn. *whoa!* I haven't exactly observed Saturn this closely before.

Jump back to Jupiter at 320x. Now this was getting exciting. The image still held beautifully. Distinct red bands running across the planet's surface. 10.45pm, the GRS was beginning to appear. Ok, wow. The last time I remembered being this amazed was at Malaysia looking at Jupiter through the AP 4-inch Traveller. Jupiter held the group's attention for quite a while. I took a closer look at the planet. Hang on! I can see the moons of Jupiter! Not as pricks of light but as actual spheres with differing sizes! Now that kinda shocked me. And I mean, REALLY shocked me. My first true glimpse from Earth of the Jovian moons. This is truly excellent. It also means the Fluoro Star could possibly be pushed to 400x, maybe a bit more.

Ok, it's not the Hubble or the Voyager. I'm no expert in equipment testing, but this takes the cake of the year for me. And to think this was an observation from a light-polluted city area. Atmosphere was cooperating for the first time in a long time. It wasn't totally clear nor steady, but it was the best in the past few weeks, I think. I can't wait to bring it out to Malaysia and unleash the full visual potential of the Fluoro Star in darker skies.

That was about it for the Fluoro Star. I didn't have a finder with me so we didn't get to explore other deep-sky objects. It was already hard enough trying to locate the Moon and planets manually.

The Gas Giants party got crowded after 10pm when curious passers-by joined in to see what we were looking at. Residents from the neighbourhood began looking out of their windows with their binoculars at us and at the sky. Although a little shy at first, they started coming out of their homes to join us for the observation.

Personally, I haven't quite got the chance to fully explore the telescope's visual capabilities before I brought it out to share with the Singastro group. But now, after tonight's session at Eunos, I am really over the moon and genuinely pleased by the telescope's performance. I don't know about the others who were there, but personally I was really hopping happy. This Fluoro Star is one true gem in the visual realm. (I eagerly await comments from you other guys who were there!)

William Yang wasn't kidding when he said this would rival AstroPhysics and Takahashi. I see why now and I wish him well in breaking the astronomical market the world over.

By Lin . 12th November 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.