Date:  15 May 2010
Venue: ACJC

The Anglo-Chinese Junior College Astronomy Society (ACAS) is organizing AstroFest 2010, a full day event on 15 May 2010, Saturday, on the college premises.

Schedule

Astronomy Games

Participants will be divided into teams from various schools and engage in astronomy related games that will enhance their knowledge and skills of astronomy.

Astronomy Fair

Each team is to set up a booth. The booth must display poster, and/or project set-ups. Flexibility and creativity are encouraged; therefore participants are allowed to showcase anything from educational posters to live demonstrations. Differing from last year, there will be Mini-Games during the fair to ensure that participants are totally engaged.

Star-gazing

Weather permitting, there will be a star-gazing at the Science Centre Singapore. One-way transport is provided.

For more information, you may email acjcastrofest @ gmail . com (without the spaces).

Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Competitions

Astrigue is an annual Astronomy outreach programme, comprising a convention and a competition, hosted by Raffles Institution (Junior College) and Hwa Chong Institution. This programme is targeted at lower and upper secondary school students, and is aimed at spreading an appreciation and passion for Astronomy in Singapore. This event has been enjoying success and enthusiasm since its nascence in 2006.

Astrigue 2010 comprises two separate events:

1. Astrigue Convention 2010: A one-day Astronomy camp held in the Hwa Chong Institution campus on Saturday, the 3rd of April 2010.

2. Astrigue Challenge 2010: An Astronomy competition held in both the Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution (Junior College) campuses over two Saturdays: 10th and 17th of April 2010.

There are two categories for the Astrigue Challenge: Normal and Newcomer. The Newcomer category is for students who have just been introduced to Astronomy and/or Astrigue. Lower secondary students and/or schools that have never taken part in Astrigue before are encouraged to sign up for this category.

Each school is allowed to send a maximum of 20 people for the Astrigue Convention and 2 teams of 4+1 reserve for each category (Newcomer and Normal) of the Astrigue Challenge.

For more information, please visit http://astrigue.netau.net/Astrigue2010/Home.html

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

Date: 12 March 2010
Time: 12:30pm onwards
Venue: Theatre of the Arts, Nanyang Polytechnic

The 13th Nanyang Polytechnic Astronomy Competition will be held on 12th March 2010, Friday.

Secondary school students (or the equivalent) may participate in either the Advanced Astronomy Competition or the Team Astronomy Competition, the latter leading up to the final round in the form of an Oral Astronomy Quiz for the top 6 teams.

The Advanced Astronomy Competition lasts for two hours, while the Team Astronomy Competition involves an hour-long multiple choice quiz.

Author’s note: I estimate that spectators (like myself) should arrive at the Theatre of the Arts, NYP, around 3 pm to be in time for the final round.

Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Competitions

From 7 Oct to 14 Oct 2009, three students from two schools participated in the 5th Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad in Damyang, Korea.

A whirlwind of events ensued. There were official excursions to the Sun-cheon Bay Area famous for its wildlife, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, a traditional Korean fortress, a bamboo park (Damyang is famous for bamboo), and many more. On their own, the participants organised games ranging from “Mafia” to “Capture the flag” to a hybrid of sepak takraw and volleyball, and even a “Disco Night” on the last night of the Olympiad. Okay – that was the fun part.

The stressful part was obviously the competition. The problems set were of a rather high standard and of quite a different style as what we are used to seeing in Singapore. On top of that, the competition was quite intense. Indonesia, China, Thailand and Korea are known powerhouses; moreover, Korea was the host country. Nevertheless, the Singapore team managed to focus and gave their best throughout the competition.

All received the III-rd Diploma, equivalent to a Bronze Medal. Congratulations to Stacey-Ann Lee, Silas Yeem and Tay Woon Kiat! No less valuable were the contributions of Seow Yongli as jury member; and Joel Lee as observer and chaperone.

The Olympiad was not just a test of astronomy knowledge, but also an event where learning of different cultures and countries in addition to learning more about astronomy takes place. Yet more important that that, I feel, is that friendships were forged, and the totality of the Olympiad has inspired the participants to work harder for the betterment of the astronomy community.

Note: For those who are interested in participating in future regional or international olympiads, whether as a student, team leader or observer, do feel free to email me at contact@astronomy.sg. Those who would like to contribute in other ways such as coaching are also welcome.

Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Camps & Trips, Competitions, Reports

The Challenge

In 2009, Shell Singapore Youth Science Festival Committee is organising an exciting new activity called “Shell Astro Challenge” to complement the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.

The following are the objectives of Shell Astro Challenge:

• to give people the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of Astronomy through sky-observing experiences and educational materials; and
• to provide an avenue to connect amateur astronomers, educators and professionals through these activities.

To fulfil its objectives, Shell Astro Challenge seeks the collaboration of schools, astronomy clubs, teachers and students to embark on a nationwide socio-educational event that aims to reach to as many people, new to Astronomy, as possible.

The Aim?

To put it simply, get as many people to view the night-sky through telescopes set up in schools.

When?

Schools can now choose to hold their viewing exercise on: -
a)    either 15 or 29 May 2009 from 8pm to 11pm
b)    both 15 and 29 May 2009 from 8pm to 11pm (the committee will only take the higher of the 2 nights’ score for the competition)

What Do We Get?

In response to feedback given by schools who are participating in the event, it is clear that they want to encourage students to be interested in astronomy and schools are more concern about the educational spin-off of the event. The prize is not the main concern and schools are keen to see more prizes rather than limited high value prizes.

As such, we have adjusted the prizes as such for each category of awards: -

1. First prize of $300 + trophy
2. Second prize of $200; and
3. Third prize of $100.

On top of that, ALL participating schools will receive a telescope free-of-charge.

The telescope is the newly developed Galileoscope™, which is a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit developed for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by a team of leading astronomers, optical engineers, and science educators.

For more information on the Galileoscope, please refer to http://www.galileoscope.org/

Where Do We Sign Up?

The Shell Astro Challenge is opened to all primary, secondary schools and junior colleges.

To participate in the Shell Astro Challenge, simply complete the registration form.

You may download the form here and fax it in to us @ 65616361.

If your school doesn’t have any telescopes, you may request for the loaning of telescopes using this form.

All applications will be acknowledged (via fax or email). As vacancies are limited, applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

For any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Sue Chan at Tel: 6425 2594/91 (Email: sl_chan@science.edu.sg)

You may also download the original invitation letter from here.

The list of participating schools and the dates on which they will be holding the star-gazing are as follows:

Posted by Derek
Categories: Competitions, Stargazings & Observations

TASOS in collaboration with Science Centre Singapore launched the Moon Photo Competiton on 26th Feb 2009 in conjunction with Official Launch of IYA 2009.  There are many attractive prizes worth S$6,800.00 to be won.

Objective:

The Objective of this Competition is to promote astronomy and observation of our Moon through photography. This activity is jointly organised by The Astronomical Society of Singapore (TASOS) and Science Centre Singapore in support of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009).

Eligibility:

This competition is open to all persons above 7 years of age and who are residing in Singapore.

Guidelines for Moon Photo Competition:

Photographs submitted must be in print form and either in 8R or Super 8R format. Judging will be based on the merit of the printed photograph. In addition, for the purpose of verifying authenticity, each photograph must be accompanied by:

a) digital image file saved on a CD-ROM (labeled with the photographer’s name, NRIC, contact number and title of images). The digital image should have a resolution of at least 6 Mega-pixels (jpg or tiff) or higher. OR

b) the respective negative/slide in the case of photograph taken with film camera.

Photographs are to be in colour and must be original and unpublished. No digital processing, manipulation or enhancement is allowed except for lighting and exposure compensation.

Every submitted photograph must have a completed entry form pasted behind it.

All photographs of the moon submitted for the competition must be taken in Singapore during the competition period from 26 February to 31 July 2009.. 10. A total of 8 prizes comprising 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5 consolation prizes will be awarded for each of the 4 competition categories, i.e. Crescent Moon, Quarter Moon, Gibbous Moon and Full Moon, as shown:

1st Prize – S$800.00 worth of prizes
2nd Prize – S$400.00 worth of prizes
3rd Prize- S$250.00 worth of prizes
5 Consolation Prizes – S$50.00 each worth of prizes

Each participant may submit a maximum of 2 photographs
per category.

All photographs submitted must show the respective Moon phase in its entirety. Close-up shots showing just a particular spot of the moon will be disqualified.

All photographs, CDs, slides and negatives submitted will not be returned. In addition, the organisers reserve the rights to use, distribute, modify, post, transmit and display these documents without any compensation to the photographers.

All entries must be submitted before the closing date on 31st July 2009.

The prize presentation ceremony is scheduled for 2 October 2009.

Please download the Entry Form, which also contains the rules and regulations, from here.

Albert Tan, a committee member of TASOS, has also written an article about photographing the moon. You may download it from here.

Posted by Derek
Categories: Competitions

The Raffles Institution (Junior College) and Hwa Chong Institution (Junior College) Astronomy Clubs wish to invite your school to participate in Astrigue 2009. This is an astronomy-based event with the aim of promoting astronomy among secondary school students.

Astrigue 2009 comprises of two events. There will be a one-day learning camp (Astrigue Convention 2009) on 4th April 2009 held at Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) and a two-day inter-school astronomy competition (Astrigue Challenge 2009) held over 2 Saturdays on the 18th  and 25th  April 2009 at Hwa Chong Institution on Day 1 and Raffles Institution (Junior College) on Day 2 of the competition.

Various activities have been designed to expose participating students to exciting ideas in astronomy and space science. Your school is invited to send up to a maximum of 20 participants for Astrigue Convention, and 4 teams each comprising of 4 members and 1 reserve for Astrigue Challenge *. As the Convention is designed to help prepare participants for the Challenge, you are strongly encouraged to send the same students for both Convention and Challenge.

The download for the invitation letter and the 2nd letter to schools haves been removed due to a request from Ming Yang.

Updates: Congratulations to RI on being the Team Champion! In order of merit, the other winners are RGS, NUSHS and BPGHS.

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

Dear Sir / Madam,

Re: The 12th NYP Astronomy Competition 2009

Enchanté! The Astronomie et Physique Appliquée of the French-Singapore Institute (FSI), Nanyang Polytechnic, invites your school to participate in the 12th Annual NYP Astronomy Competition 2009 for secondary schools in Singapore.

The event will take place on:

Date :
13th March 2008, Friday

Time:
12.30p.m. – 8.00 p.m.

Venue:
Theatre for the Arts (Please see the map attached)

Special Lecture:
A/Prof. Chung Keng Yeow (Physics Department, NUS)

In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy year 2009, we are conducting 10 parallel astronomy and astrophysics talks in 5 Lecture Theatres in our campus on 6th March 2009 (Friday). These lectures are conducted by experts or PhD research scholars from the National University of Singapore. This year’s astronomy competition syllabi will be based on these Lectures. As in the past, we have many secondary schools participating in this prestigious competition, so we hope that you register your interest soon for the talks (6th March) and the competition (13th March). Details regarding the talks and competition are also enclosed for your perusal.

I look forward to receiving your school’s response before 23rd February (Monday) 2009. Please do not hesitate to call us at 6550-0522 should you have any queries.

Yours sincerely
Mr. Yeh Ong Chua
Astronomy Competition Chairman

 

About the Astronomy Talks …

The Astronomy Talks will be held on 6th March 2009, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm at 5 Lecture Theatres (LTs) in BLK N namely LTN-2 to LTN-6, School of Engineering, Nanyang Polytechnic. The details of each talk are listed below. As these talks are held concurrently at 5 different LTs at the same time, schools are advised to select only 2 students per LTs. The total number of students per school is 10 plus 1 teacher. Students coming for the talks must arrive at the respective LT before 5.45pm for lecture registration.

Programme of Astronomy Talks (6.30pm – 9.30pm)

Talk, Invited Speaker, Venue, Time

1) Black Holes, Mr. Ong Yen Chin, LTN-2, 6.30 – 7.30pm
2) Astrophotography, Mr. Leek Meng Lee, LTN-2, 8.30 – 9.30pm
3) Elements of Astronomy 1, Mr. Lai Wei Chang, LTN-3, 6.30 -7.30pm
4) Elements of Astronomy 2, Mr. Sarabjit Singh, LTN-3, 8.30 – 9.30pm
5) Particle Physics and Neutrinos, Mr. Law Zhi Yang, LTN-4, 6.30 – 7.30pm
6) Space Materials, Mr. Wong Loke Yuen, LTN-4, 8.30 – 9.30pm
7) Cosmology, Dr. Cindy Ng, LTN-5, 6.30 – 7.30pm
8) Cosmic Strings, Dr. Jesse Goldman, LTN-5, 8.30 – 9.30pm
9) Quantum Physics & Cosmology, Dr P. Rajesh, LTN-6, 6.30 – 7.30pm
10) Astrophysics, Dr. P. Chan, LTN-6, 8.30 – 9.30pm

Please download the full invitation letter here.

Posted by Derek
Categories: Competitions, 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

AstroChAllenge 2009

Astrochallenge is an annual competition aimed at fostering interest and awareness in Astronomy among the various schools and to raise awareness in Astronomy among the students.

It is organised by Nanyang Technological University Astronomical Society (NTUAS), the National University of Singapore Astronomical Society (NUSAS) and Marine Parade Community Centre YEC Astronomical Society (MPASTRO).

The competition was jointly organised by NTUAS and NUSAS since 2003, and last year, MPASTRO joined in co-organising this competition. This year’s competition will be held in NTU on 12 June, MPCC on 13 June and NUS on 15 June. (Venue might subject to changes at a later date).

For this competition, there are 3 categories – the Newcomers’, Junior and Senior category. The Newcomers’ category is for schools who have never joined AstroChallenge before, or students who are beginners in Astronomy to participate.

More post-registration information can be found here in this letter sent out to participating schools.

Please refer to the appendices below for more details on AstroChallenge ’09:

Appendix 1: Schedule of events
Appendix 2: Detailed information on rounds
Appendices 3-4: Project round details & declaration form
Appendix 5: Maps
Appendix 6: Indemnity form

The public is invited to attend AstroChallenge on 13 June, Saturday, at Marine Parade CC & East Coast Park.

For more information, please check out their website at http://www.astrochallenge.com/

All information on this event is accurate as of 31 May 2009.

Posted by Derek
Categories: Competitions, Stargazings & Observations