Meade DSI Pro with RGB filters – S$339!
The Deep Sky Imager PRO is 2.3 times more sensitive and has 4 times the resolution of the color Deep Sky Imager. It is a high-performance, easy-to-use monochrome CCD camera that allows every astronomer to shoot and process stunning deep sky photographs of galaxies, nebulae, star clusters and planets. This CCD camera is designed with the intermediate to advanced amateur astrophotographer in mind. Includes the high quality RGB filter set to produce stunning RGB and LRGB images.
Galileoscope – S$69!
The Galileoscope 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. No matter where you live, with this easy-to-assemble, 50-mm (2-inch) diameter, 25- to 50-power achromatic refractor, you can see the celestial wonders that Galileo Galilei first glimpsed 400 years ago and that still delight stargazers today. These include lunar craters and mountains, four moons circling Jupiter, the phases of Venus, Saturn’s rings, and countless stars invisible to the unaided eye.
Bosma Omega MC 6″ f/12 Rumak Mak Cass OTA – S$999!
Very robustly built OTA with 150mm aperture and 1800mm focal length for detailed views of lunar and planetary objects. Weighing 7kg and 56cm in length, it includes the OTA, 7X50 Finderscope, 2″/1.25″ compression ring eyepiece adapter, and an SCT adapter. Introductory pricing includes complimentary dewshield (a S$59 value).
To purchase, please send an email to sales@astrobargains.com, or send a fax to +65-6462-5313, with the item you are interested in and your contact information.
Posted by Derek
Categories: Promotions & Sales
There will be a Marine Parade Astronomy Fair organised by MPASTRO held on 10 Jul – 11 Jul 2010. Please check back closer to the event date for more details.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Others
On 12 Jun – 13 Jun 2010, MPASTRO will be organising yet another stargazing camp at Pulau Semakau. Renowned for having one of the darkest skies in Singapore, it is an opportunity not to be missed! Please check back for more details about the event.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Camps & Trips
On 17 Apr – 18 Apr 2010, MPASTRO will be organising the Lyrids Star Party. Do check back for more details closer to the event.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Celestial Events, Stargazings & Observations
Come 27 Mar 2010, AGASTRO will be organising Earth Hour Star Party! For more information on Earth Hour, check out http://www.earthhour.org/.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Stargazings & Observations
Date: 13th March (Saturday)
Time: 10am- 9pm
Venue: Marine Parade Community Centre
Cost: $8 per person (inclusive of all materials)
Lunch and Dinner would be provided
Genesis serves as a platform for youths to explore the heavens with telescopes and experience the joy of fellowship with amateur astronomers from various schools. In this workshop, participants will get to know and interact with student amateur astronomers, learn to operate telescopes, and learn about the universe itself.
This workshop allows youths to experience astronomy in a fun way during the day time with exciting activities. A participant does not need to have a prior background in astronomy to join this workshop.
Brief Itinerary
Morning: Astronomy talk 1
Afternoon: Lunch, telescope viewing of the sun, practical astronomy using starcharts, astronomy talk 2, games such as comet making, documentary screening
Evening: Dinner, telescope viewing of the night sky
If interested, please email mpastrosociety@gmail.com.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Camps & Trips
Like last year, Woodlands Youth Executive Committee is bringing you the Countdown party for year 2010!
This year, the theme is JAM IT and it will be a “jamming session” with local bands, dance groups and also a beatboxing group:
Other than the performances, there will be a carnival going on at the event grounds and there will be youth-oriented game booths such as a human-dunking machine!
Tickets for this event are sold at $3 each!
Getting the ticket entitles you to:
1. 1 x Goody bag
2. 1 x Lucky Draw Ticket
3. 1 x Popcorn
4. 1 x Burger
5. 1 x Candy Floss
6. 1 x Ice Cream
7. 4 x Games at the various Game Booths
Ways to buy tickets for the event:
1. Go to Woodlands or Admiral Garden CC or the various RCs in Woodlands to purchase the ticket.
2. Join the Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205978156158&ref=ts
So what are you waiting for! Grab your friends and come down to probably the biggest and most happening party in the North!
This is an event organised for the youths, by the youths!
During the party, there will also be a booth and star-gazing section organised by AGASTRO.
For more details of the party, please refer to the official website at http://jamit2010.wordpress.com/.
Posted by Rong'en
Categories: Others, Stargazings & Observations
At Astronomy.SG, we seek to expand and venture into new areas to serve the Singapore Astronomy community better. To bring to you greater value for Astronomical products and services, we are proud to announce a new tie-up programme with local Astronomy vendor Astro Bargains.
Under this new partnership, we will bring your special promotions from Astro Bargains every month, announcing both on our website and our newsletter. So, no, we are not filling our website with ugly obstructive advertisements or sending you spam emails. We adhere to our conduct of providing content of the strictest quality control.
If you are looking to purchase any astronomical equipment, we will work with Astro Bargains to source for it and get it at the best price. Eventually, we hope to integrate their vast catalogue into our website to offer visitors a new online store to purchase astronomical equipment. With this, we will also be shutting down our very own little shop on our website, to avoid the overlapping of services.
We hope that this new development will enhance the experience of Astronomy for everyone.
For more information, please contact:
Derek Low (Visit contact page)
Koh Joo Beng (joobeng@astrobargains.com)
Posted by Derek
Categories: Announcements
Leonids’ Radiant Map
From Wes Stone’s Skytour:
Leonids
Predicted Maximum: November 17, ~21:00 UT (=Nov. 17, 1:00pm PST; Nov. 17, 4:00pm EST)
Moon: New Moon (no interference)
WHEN TO WATCH: The predicted outburst, perhaps with rates of 100-500 Leonids per hour, strongly favors Asian observers, who should watch on the morning of November 18. North American observers should especially try to cover the morning of Tuesday, November 17 in case of unusual activity leading up to this peak. The Moon will be completely out of the picture and will not cause any problems. Just keep radiant elevation in mind wherever you’re observing from. The radiant rises between 10pm and midnight for the bulk of the Northern Hemisphere. Leonid activity will be nonexistent before this time, and relatively very low for a couple of hours thereafter. Morning hours tend to produce the best rates, although the few earthgrazing Leonids seen around radiant-rise can be very impressive.
The Leonids are very fast meteors. The shower is active at a low “background” level for about a week from November 14-21. Quite a few sporadic and minor-shower meteors join the cast, especially in the predawn hours.
From Science@NASA:
Astronomers from Caltech and NASA say a strong shower of Leonid meteors is coming in 2009. Their prediction follows an outburst on Nov. 17, 2008, that broke several years of “Leonid quiet” and heralds even more intense activity next November.
“On Nov. 17, 2009, we expect the Leonids to produce upwards of 500 meteors per hour,” says Bill Cooke of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. “That’s a very strong display.”
see captionForecasters define a meteor storm as 1000 or more meteors per hour. That would make the 2009 Leonids “a half-storm,” says Jeremie Vaubaillon of Caltech, who successfully predicted a related outburst just a few weeks ago.
On Nov. 17, 2008, Earth passed through a stream of debris from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The gritty, dusty debris stream was laid down by the Leonids’ parent comet more than five hundred years ago in 1466. Almost no one expected the old stream to produce a very strong shower, but it did. Observers in Asia and Europe counted as many as 100 meteors per hour.
Vaubaillon predicted the crossing with one-hour precision. “I have a computer program that calculates the orbits of Leonid debris streams,” he explains. “It does a good job anticipating encounters even with very old streams like this one.”
The Nov. 17, 2008 outburst proved that the 1466 stream is rich in meteor-producing debris, setting the stage for an even better display in 2009.
On Nov. 17, 2009, Earth will pass through the 1466 stream again, but this time closer to the center. Based on the number of meteors observed in 2008, Vaubaillon can estimate the strength of the coming display: five hundred or more Leonids per hour during a few-hour peak centered on 21:43 UT.
“Our own independent model of the debris stream agrees,” says Cooke. “We predict a sub-storm level outburst on Nov. 17, 2009, peaking sometime between 21:34 and 21:44 UT.”
The timing favors observers in Asia, although Cooke won’t rule out a nice show over North America when darkness falls hours after the peak. “I hope so,” he says. “It’s a long way to Mongolia.”
Many readers will remember the great Leonid showers of 1998-2002. The best years (1999 and 2001) produced storms of up to 3000 Leonids per hour. The 2009 display won’t be so intense. Instead, if predictions are correct, next year’s shower could resemble the 1998 Leonids, a “half-storm”-level event caused by a stream dating from 1333. That old stream turned out to be rich in nugget-sized debris that produced an abundance of fireballs. Many observers consider the 1998 Leonids to be the best they’ve ever seen.
Could 2009 be the same? Vaubaillon expects a similar number of meteors but fewer fireballs. If the models are correct, the 1466 stream in Earth’s path contains plenty of dust but not so many nuggets, thus reducing the fireball count. On the bright side, the Moon will be new next Nov. 17th so nothing will stand in the way of the shower reaching its full potential.
Posted by Derek
Categories: Celestial Events
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
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