Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
starfinder wrote:Hi people, in case you are wondering, i am still around, in singapore. just been rather quiet. ha ha.
Well, here are two photos of the Triple Planets at Dawn formation which I took this morning. The wide-angle was at 55mm (cropped) with a digital SLR, and the close-up was at 555mm with thru an 80mm scope and the dSLR. Both were only so-so, the first being quite out-of-focus.
But i must say that thru a 10x binoculars, the view of the 3 planets in a tight equilateral triangular formation was magnificent! one to remember.
I've not felt this passionate rush in astronomy for several months!
(PS: someone pls let me know if the photos can be seen. i can't seem to see photos on this website now.)
Hi Starfinder!
I did see your pics earlier this morn....but now they've all but gone?
Whatever happened to the two magnificent pics?
1) a close-up for the 3 planets + beta Scorpii
2) a wide angle shot of pre-dawn with that tight equilateral triangle
Pls. get them up again!
Thnks!
Babykevin
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Last edited by babyKevin on Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
last night was very very clear. I could see a star field from my window at 2am! But I was already in bed, so too lazy to get up....explains why this morning so clear. But in any case, there is no horizon to see from my place...its blocks , blocks and more housing blocks...
weixing, are you taking some pictures ?
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R United Federation of the Planets
Oh dear... just cam back from Europe last night and forgot about it!
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
Airconvent wrote:last night was very very clear. I could see a star field from my window at 2am! But I was already in bed, so too lazy to get up....explains why this morning so clear. But in any case, there is no horizon to see from my place...its blocks , blocks and more housing blocks...
weixing, are you taking some pictures ?
How about taking an early morning walk around your area? :P
thanks! well, i think 14th floor from my place would have been sufficient.
looks like there will also be close formations in the next 2 days (Mon and Tues morning) too. from my planetarium program, seems that it will a bit straighter tomrw, but triangular again on Tues.
hope to get better photos this time. this morning, i completely forgot that i have a telephoto lens (70-300mm Tamron), and instead scrambled to set up my 80mm diameter scope (555mm f.l). i think somewhere around 150-250mm would have been ideal, to capture the horizon and the planets.
Airconvent wrote:last night was very very clear. I could see a star field from my window at 2am! But I was already in bed, so too lazy to get up....explains why this morning so clear. But in any case, there is no horizon to see from my place...its blocks , blocks and more housing blocks...
weixing, are you taking some pictures ?
How about taking an early morning walk around your area? :P
no use...I live in the heart of a housing estate...only way is to get to th east coast but its a working day tomorrow...
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R United Federation of the Planets
This time, i changed location stood along the common corridor on 8th floor. No blockage at all. Saw the trio at 0614 hrs. Didn't notice it when it was visible. After checking with the computer, saw that it was only 5 degrees high. I'm quite sure if I was more focused, I would have seen it around 2-3 degrees. Thus this had dispelled the impression that I had that Mercury cannot be seen from Singapore.
The trio formation were beautiful. Jupiter and Mercury were very close together and Mercury was much brighter(shiny bright) than Jupiter ( reddish and dull but bigger). Mars(very tiny but bright) appeared for about 3 minutes and disappeared behind thick clouds.
I had used my 80mm with a 32mm ep to view. During this time, I was also changing eyepieces to look at the trio(more of Jupiter and Mercury). at 0632hrs, very thick patch of clouds moved in, covering the trio totally. Looking at the amount of thick clouds ( more than 90 degrees of it horizontally), i decided to go back to continue my sleep
This short encounter is indeed something worth waking up early and waiting for. good night.
mrngbss wrote:This time, i changed location stood along the common corridor on 8th floor. No blockage at all. Saw the trio at 0614 hrs. Didn't notice it when it was visible. After checking with the computer, saw that it was only 5 degrees high. I'm quite sure if I was more focused, I would have seen it around 2-3 degrees. Thus this had dispelled the impression that I had that Mercury cannot be seen from Singapore.
The trio formation were beautiful. Jupiter and Mercury were very close together and Mercury was much brighter(shiny bright) than Jupiter ( reddish and dull but bigger). Mars(very tiny but bright) appeared for about 3 minutes and disappeared behind thick clouds.
I had used my 80mm with a 32mm ep to view. During this time, I was also changing eyepieces to look at the trio(more of Jupiter and Mercury). at 0632hrs, very thick patch of clouds moved in, covering the trio totally. Looking at the amount of thick clouds ( more than 90 degrees of it horizontally), i decided to go back to continue my sleep
This short encounter is indeed something worth waking up early and waiting for. good night.
ha ha..so a productive outing!
BTW, I did mention somewhere I had seen Mercury from Ang Mo Kio Interchange car park last year hovering above Courts Superstore. I wasn't sure until I checked my pda.
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R United Federation of the Planets
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." 
:P