yK's - City Astronomy Contact Me
Welcome to my Astro web site. I would like to share with you the type of sky watching activities still possible under moderate light polluted city sky like Singapore. Some activities can be even be done INDOOR! (indoor meteor watching for example!) Here is a day-time view of my window to the universe - a panoramic view outside my 12-storey balcony. Knowing the bearing is helpful to know out what objects are visible. In addition I have set up my simple indoor satellite observing station ( 4/13/00) which is good for seeing satellites passages up to mag +9.2 in good sky condition using ultra-sensitive watec 902H cameras (excellent for meteor break-up imaging too). Of course there will be astro events best seen abroad (darker sky, better situated) - so included in this web are some of my travel reports detailing my venture to these faraway lands.
KEY WORDS:  Naked-eye / Binoculars - 7x50, /C5+ ,C8 / Camcorder TRV99E,TR805E, DCR-TRV120E / Digital Camera - Canon Powershot350,  Nikon Coolpix-995 Astro-videography / Ultra-low lux 1/2" CCD - Watec 902H & Neptune100N+Mintron Jaguar+Mintron12V1C-EX/ My Sky logs /  DIY Predictions (Iridium  Flares) / Links / Images: (Comets, Solar/Lunar , Meteors, Star Clusters, Iridium Flares,  Constellations, Conjunctions, Double Star).
		***2004***- (April 22) - Lyrid Meteor Shower (early after 2 am) (May / June) Two comets visible in Singapore Sky around late May 2004 - one page info at my meteor website. (June 08) - Venus Transit - This event will take the whole afternoon. NEVER look at the solar disk naked eye or through any optical means. Unsafe materials (eg sun-glasses, exposed films )- do not block the invisible harmful radiation from frying your eyeballs. (Ongoing) My meteor hunting - the video way ( 4-6 hrs) unattended frames capture. 50Mb per session.. will take sometimes to fill up the 80Gb hard disk. OR Visit my experimental video streaming page	Automated Meteor Photography - Six Canon T-70 camera array successful used in 2001 Leonids photography. The whole assembly weighs 12 Kg ( tripod included!)
Singapore Milkyway - Its out there! (watec-902H, 25mm f0.95). NEW (9/16/03) This time I explored further 'upsteam' of the Milky way around M24. CLICK the small image below to access the entire image. (x800 frames ,Registrax)		Chart showing size of Mars (arc_sec) in Aug/Sep 03 & past and future opposition size. Bring out your scope ,or join TASOS now!The next opposition will be on Oct 2005 ( 20.2" size see chart above). Start saving up for a scope?	C8 & video setup for Mars @ my place.
A DIY " All-Sky Camera Convex Mirror System" - just add 'SLR Camera' of your choice. [Sept 5 01] My Video Sky Patrol 2002 GEMS observation report Dec 13/14 and Dec 14/15 .- Leonids 2002 seen - in Singapore ( Nov19 '02) through big holes in the zenith. !	Mars Mania? Updated Sep 04 '03 - MARS Closest to us Aug 27 UT0905 or 17:05pm. Science Centre Mars Party August 30 Saturday (7:30-midnight)- Science Centre - Open to public. 'Thousands' turned up at SC with one thing in mind - Mars. Many queue for more than 4 hrs to get a peep through the Pentax 16" - when I left close to 11:45pm, a few hundreds still in the queue for the big scope. Moments later it rained. August 23 Saturday- Mars Watch 2003 Take II ! @Bedok Reservior Organised by SPAstronomers-Mars throughout the night and Saturn / Moon in early dawn. ( see image below) Crescent moon and reflection over Bedok Reservoir at 4:30 am Aug 23'03. Cp995 2 Sec inf	(8/8/03 11pm) CM~6.3 White South Polar Cap (SPC) bordered with Mare Australe. Dark Sinus Sabaeus finger with Meridiani Sinus- Spanner's Head. Across the 'circular' clearing is dark mass of Erythethraeum with fingernail of Oxia Falus. In the north loomed Niliacus Lacus. (Mintron12V1C-EX) x2 barlow,12.5mm EP, video walkman- Au's Ultima 8"@ Singapore Poly's Dover Rd. ... ( x1 hot spot embedded) (8/20/03 10:30pm) CM~240.0 - A fish-like dark band ( Mare Cimmerium,Mare Tyrthenum) crosses Mars 's 24.9" disk. Hellas rotates into full view, now larger than SPC ice-cap. Drift acquire using my 10+ yrs C8, Mintron,x2 Barlow,12.5mm EP, Red filter, Sony video walkman and Q-and-lazy stack on Registax. (x3 hot spots embedded) (8/23/03) Mars Watch '03 - (0:00-05:45am) Saw Mars in various apertures, Old crescent moon rise over Reservior , saturn, m42, Rigel close companion.. (8/25/03) 11:15pm Same CM as in 8/20. Drift acquire method trying out my 1/3" integrating color ccd Mintron Jaguar- 'forefather' of Mintron 12V1-C.	Science Centre: The Observatory - Mars Party 03.
			(Mars Party'03 Aug 30) It was only 7:00pm and people already queue for the big scope.
Another attempt at the Milkyway - this time I tried the M24 region. CLICK the image above to view the full size splendor.	".. lets skip Mars and talk about Saturn instead ...! "- Mr Au's slide-cum- talk - Mars Watch '03 July @ Chinese Garden..	(Sep 03'03) CM~ 92+W hite bit of SPC and the 'Black' eye appearance of Solis Lacus. (Sep 18 03) Iridium 56 @ -7.0 magnitude near Deneb. A 30 sec video stack from watec-902H & 25mm f9.5 lens . I alerted C Lee in Yishun and she managed to view this magnificent flare -her first Iridium Flare!	Mars Party Aug 30 03@ Science Centre - Some queued more than four hours to have a peep thro the 16" scope. I caught a glimpse of the small white polar cap at 9 o'clock position. Passing clouds dimmed the view. At least six telescopes were set up near the observatory field - C5, C11, C8 with their fareshare of the crowds.
	Ghostly images of plastic wrap telescopes- Mars 'un'-Watch July 03	".. we got our hand stamped with bat-man-like Science Centre Logo - as part of the ,measure taken to prevent queue jumpers." While queuing we saw Mars rises in the NE, (see box to the right) the Pointer, Antares, traced out the '3'-shaped Scorpio, the house-shaped Sagittarius in SW and the Summer Triangle high up in the sky. Meanwhile the new crescent moon slipped 'unnoticed' down the western horizon.	Mars rising - seen from the queue @ Science Centre.. CP995 2 sec- Inf.
mySkyLog- " asteriod, fireball, comet, meteors, planet spotting, globular clusters, iridium flares, tumbling satellites, spy satellites, nova, NGCs, M Objects, constellations study, asterism , weather balloon, lunar rays, solar sun spots, high flying jets, migrating birds. using naked eye, binoculars, ultra low lux ccd at end of C8, C5 or a host of fast TV lens.  "...A supersonic boom caught my attention instinctly I turned skyward and saw for a split second the outline of spy plane BlackBird on its way to Riverside AirShow" - 90's Disneyland Anaheim, US	"A terrestial landmark "..30,000 ft up I saw Mount Egmont - a perfect conical-shaped Fuji-like dormant volcano casting a shark-tooth shadow agains a rising morning sun. ---- Taranaki, NZ Mar 2001" Read my Southern Seas Trip Report .	PM Sky - Venus/Jupiter Pair less than 3 degree apart- Jun 02 '02 handheld Nikon CoolPix 995	Aug 1 '02 - Brightest portion of the Milky Way (near 'Teapot's Spout') 'seen' through my study window!. Late evening (11:30pm) a bright pale yellow - 3 mag fireball zipped through the zenith... Have you seen a bright meteor leaving behind luminous trail in the upper atmosphere? READ my account of this... A while ago I wrote a tutorial on Satellite Page with link to past comets etc A long while ago I appeared in 10:00 news to explain the UFO on TV. Here is another recent similar case of jet contrail phenomena
"..Chadegan ...a clear lake in the middle of no where..". Read my travel report and find out the why I traveled there to view a comet Iran- Comet Linear July 2000	" ....... Mir shedding her solar panels during the descent to mother Earth. " -still image from video footage Courtesy of AP.   Read my report of our bold air-borne attempt to catch a glimpse of the returning Mir, flying inside the NO-FLY-ZONE [was actually 60 km nearer to central line then planned]. Fiji -Star gazing & Mir deOrbit Expedition March 2001 or we expected to see something like Mir reentry simulation BUT..	"...I witnessed the great '99 Leonids Meteor Storm in a desert camp in Jordan... sometimes 7 meteors per sec was seen simultaneously.. a total of over 3,000+ meteors was seen and "    Read how I was dazzled by the heavenly downpour - Jordan-1999 Leonid Storm	LEONIDS STORM 2001 My 2nd Leonid Meteor Storm It was a fantastic natural firework - View my travel report - Leonids at BOAObservatory - S Korea.
We had a booth on Sep22-23 '01 Sentosa . Click above to see more..	Useful LINKS Meteors - IMO - List of Meteors Showers to watch. Gary Kronk's rich resouces on Meteors. Lunar/Solar Eclipse Sunspots info @ JPL's - Solar System simulator Charles Morris's Comets Site   Light Pollution around the world at night - mosaics created by spy satellite(s).	SGP SATELLITE Visibility ISS , HST , Iridium flares next 7 days (Woodlands, Yishun, AMK,Orchard)* assuming a general N-S/S-N transit.   Heavens-above.com , Visual Satellite Obs -HomePage, TLEs(mccants.tle) SKY & TELESCOPE Interactive OnLine SkyMap	Astro Event of the year 01- The President of Singapore Nathan at Lin's Astro2001 Exhibition in the National Museum - June 09 01.
The objective of this page is to introduce and promote Sky watching to the city dwellers and identify various BSOs(Bright Sky Objects) still within your reach. These BSOs can sometimes be observed with nothing more than a pair of binoculars and/or just your unaided eye. BSOs include planets : Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, bright comets, meteors/fire-balls, high altitude weather balloon, satellites like Iridium , Mir( deorbited March 23 2001), Space Shuttle, ISS (International Space Station), Moon and of course bright stars that make up of the constellation. Different ways of acquiring images using video camera(camcorder,b/w security camera, telescope (prime , eye-piece projection, afocal, compression) and digital camera will be introduced so you can see what can be done even in our light polluted sky. Geographically, we in Singapore have one of the highest % of cloud-covered night sky on any month. Viewing opportunity often amount to less than 2-3 clear nights( whole sky) per month. So every clear night is a precious sky watching opportunity not to be missed. We also claimed the highest record on the number of days with lightning. One record showed 175/365 days with lightning detected!! The dimmest star observable ranges from mag 0-1 in city (eg Orchard Shopping Belt) to a mag 2.0 to 3.5 other part of the island. On a better night mag 4.0+ can be reached. Despite all these we still can enjoy the objects of the night sky and its free ! ( not for long though, with more and more light pollution from golf courses , outdoor building illumination etc)