Dates: 12 Dec – 13 Dec 2009
Time: 8:00pm – 8:00am
Venue: Changi Beach Park (please click to see map)

Highlights:
Catch Geminids Meteor Shower a day before its peak!
View the Winter Deep Sky Objects via the Telescopes
Planets can be seen – Jupiter, Mars, Saturn.

MPASTRO is  giving away IYA-sponsored items and bottled water (while stocks last).

Getting there: Changi Beach Park is served by SBS Transit bus services 9, 19 and 89 at several bus stops along its length. These bus stops are among the closest to the coast you can find in Singapore. By taking these buses, visitors can alight along Nicoll Drive. Visitors can also take bus services 2, 29, 59 and 109 to Changi Village and 5 minutes of walk across the pedestrian footbridge to the park.

Activity Type: Suitable for age 12 and above.

In case of rain – MP ASTRO will inform the participants 3 hours in advance if there are any changes to the schedule.

The public star-gazing consists of a short tour with the aid of a laser to introduce the constellations you can see in the sky.

To register, please send mpastrosociety@gmail.com an email with your name, NRIC no. and contact number.

Game Activity
For students only!
There will be an on-spot briefing on instructions and rules.

Space Treasure Hunt
In pairs – be the fastest to solve all the clues!
Winning pair will receive a GV Movie Voucher each.

DSO Challenge
Individual Round and must have a telescope – be the fastest to locate the list of objects!
Winner will receive the book “Turn Left At Orion”.

Marshmallow Campfire Competition
In pairs – be the fastest to start a fire and roast 5 marshmallows
Winning pair will receive 2 free tickets each to Pulau Semakau on 19 December.

To register for the games, please send mpastrosociety@gmail.com an email with your name, NRIC no. and contact number.

Please note the following if you are attending the Geminids Star Party:

1. Come Prepared
2. Remember to bring a red light if you plan on wandering around the site and arrive before dark so you can familiarise yourself with the site. A simple way to create one is to wrap red cellophane over the bulb/LED of the flashlight.
3. Children are more than welcome to attend but need to be supervised at all times, as there are a lot of potential trip hazards, and expensive equipment set up in the area.

Posted by Derek
Categories: Camps & Trips, Celestial Events, Stargazings & Observations

The Science Centre Singapore and TASOS are celebrating the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009 with a big bang. The stars of the show are forecasted to be a meteor storm that will happen between 3am to 5am.

Astronomers have predicted that the annual Leonids might put up the most dramatic light show not seen in recent years as the earth passes close to the centre of the comet’s debris trail laid down in 1466. The ideal locations for viewing are in Asia and North America.

On stage, there will be performances by Kenji Williams, an audio visual art performer, while offstage, visitors will be entertained by the Science Buskers. For astronomy buffs, an accompanying meteorite exhibition, a talk by TASOS, on-site telescope viewing of the planet Jupiter and inflatable planetarium tours for children will also be held.

Time: 8pm – 5am (*8pm – 2am: activities / 2am – 5am: free & easy)

Start Time:     Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 8:00pm
End Time:     Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 5:00am
Location:     Japanese Gardens

Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events, Stargazings & Observations, Talks & Lectures

3^rd AstroFest 2009

The ACJC Astronomy Society will be organising AstroFest 2009. We cordially invite your school to participate in this event, which will be held on the following two days:

23 May 2009 (Sat) from 1pm – 6pm (Registration starts at 1pm in ACJC lobby)
30 May 2009 (Sat) from 1pm – 10pm

This is an annual event aimed at bringing together Astronomy enthusiasts from various institutions to share their experiences and learn from each other, and fostering ties between the various schools. After last year’s success, we hope for your school’s continued support.

The teams will go through a two-day event where they will be immersed in enriching activities for them to learn Astronomy while getting to know others from the community. An Astronomy fair displaying projects done by the teams will follow in the afternoon of the second day, which will undergo judging by professionals. In the evening, after the final round, participants would be shuttled by bus to Singapore Science Centre for a casual stargazing session.

The programme includes the following:

• Astronomy Fair and Contest
• Mind Games
• Dinner Reception on Second Day
• Astronomy Sharing by experienced astronomers
• Stargazing

We cordially invite your school to send teams of 3 or less students to participate in this event. You may send a maximum of 3 teams (9 students).

A registration fee of $65 will be charged for each team, which includes AstroFest T-shirts and dinner reception for all participants. All payment is to be made by IFAAS or cheque payable to “Anglo-Chinese Junior College” by 23 May 2009. Registration of teams closes on 4 April 2009. Please reply early to facilitate our planning for the event. Thank you.

Participants should wear their school uniforms (if applicable) and bring along attire for physical activities. They may change into their AstroFest T-shirts during the event.

Please email us at ACJCastrofest@gmail.com if you need any further information. Thank you.

Dear All,

Anglo-Chinese Junior College Astronomy Society is proud to present to you AstroFest 2009. This year’s AstroFest would be held on the 23rd and 30th May 2009, both Saturdays, in the college premises.

AstroFest is an annual event aimed at bringing together Astronomy enthusiasts from various institutions to share their experiences, learn from each other, and foster ties between the various schools. After last year’s encouraging response, we hope to attract even more teams from the various schools to participate this year.

On the first day, the teams will go through a day camp where they will be immersed in enriching activities for them to learn Astronomy while getting to know others from the community. On the second day, an Astronomy Fair exhibiting projects done by the teams would be held and will undergo judging by professionals. The finals would be held after that and the winning teams will walk away with attractive prices. In the evening, participants would be brought over to the Singapore Science Centre to end off the event with an exciting stargazing session.

This year, we hope to give away even more attractive prizes. So teams taking part, give your best shot!

Attached to this email is the invitation letter. Teachers, kindly take a look at it, fill it up and send it back to us by 4 April 2009.

We look forward to working closely with you.

Thank you very much.

Yours faithfully,
Sujay Natson
President
ACJC Astronomy Society

P.S. Do kindly relay this invitation to other school Astronomy clubs whose contacts have not been included in the email.

You may download the invitation letter here.

Congratulations to the following prize-winners!

Team Champion: RGS Team 2
Stacey-Ann Lee Wanpei
Gillian Wong Miswardi
Isabella Ow Dan Wei

Prizes:
3 Gold Trophies
Celestron 15 x 70 SkyMaster Binocs
Ruggedised Firewire HDD Enclosure

Team 1st Runner-Up: RI(JC) Team 1
Aaron Tang Kai Wen
Huang Wenjie
Huang Renyong

Prizes:
3 Silver Trophies
The Galileoscope
NixVue Visor

Team 2nd Runner-Up: CJC Team 3
David Alvin Low Tze Wen
Deborah Felicia Tan Li Ling
Sean Fang Jia Hao

Prizes:
3 Bronze Trophies
Solar Polymer Viewers
Starry Night Galaxy Explorer Win/Mac CD

Best Project Award:  RI(JC) Team 1
Aaron Tang Kai Wen
Huang Wenjie
Huang Renyong

Prizes:
Best Project Trophy
Starry Night Atlas of the Sky
Set of Deep Sky Astro Posters by Jack Newton

Special Round Winners: RI(JC) Team 1
Aaron Tang Kai Wen
Huang Wenjie
Huang Renyong

Prizes:
Starry Night Galaxy Explorer Win/Mac CD
20 Slides Set of Electronic Images Taken at Palomar Observatory

Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events, Competitions, Series of Events, Stargazings & Observations, Talks & Lectures

Singapore Science Centre will be having an eclipse viewing session at their observatory for the annular solar eclipse on 26 January.

Date: 26 January 2009, Monday
Time: 4:30PM to 7:00PM; time of maximal eclipse 5:49 PM
Venue: The Observatory (at the Omni-Theatre building)

For more information regarding the eclipse, please refer to http://astronomy.sg/blog/?p=14

Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events, Stargazings & Observations

After a 10-year solar eclipse drought, we’re fortunate enough to have two solar eclipses for Singapore in the IYA2009 calendar!

The first solar eclipse of 2009 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in western Capricornus. An annular eclipse will be visible from a wide track that traverses the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much larger path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia except Tasmania, southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

The solar eclipse will occur on the 26th of January, which also happens to be the first day of Chinese New Year. As of right now, there are two sun gazing sessions I am currently aware of.

NUS Astro is organising one in their football field.

Date: 26 January 2009, Monday
Time: 2:30PM to 6:30PM; the Moon will cover the Sun at about 3.30 pm
Venue: NUS Football Field

Singapore Science Centre will also be having a session at their observatory.

Date: 26 January 2009, Monday
Time: 4:30PM to 7:00PM; time of maximal eclipse 5:49 PM
Venue: The Observatory (at the Omni-Theatre building)

The available data for Singapore is as follows:

View the eclipse animation here.

The global visibility of this solar eclipse is shown in the diagram below:

The animation shown in the diagram below illustrates the motion of the shadow of the Moon at five minute intervals.

Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events

Dear All,

…

Our 1st activity is the Solar Eclipse on the 1st day of Chinese New Year (Mon 26th Jan 2009)
We will be setting up our telescopes at 2.30pm.

Best Regards and Happy New Year,
Phil

Date: 26 January 2009, Monday
Time: 2:30PM to 6:30PM; the Moon will cover the Sun at about 3.30 pm
Venue: NUS Football Field

For more information regarding the eclipse, please refer to http://astronomy.sg/blog/?p=14

Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events, Stargazings & Observations