Month: April 2023

April 30, 2023 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker Series featuring Dr. Daniel Green

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Comets, the so called denizens and visitors from deep space, have inspired awe and even fear since ancient times. On April 30, 2023 (Sunday), at 9;30 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (April 29, Saturday, 9:30 p.m. EDT), please join us for an online talk on “A Brief Tutorial on Comets” by Daniel W. E. Green, Ph.D. , Director, Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EslAx6JD-ks
Dr. Green will talk about what comets are, how they are becoming harder to define in terms of their physical nature, how they are discovered and named, some statistics regarding comets, and how amateur astronomers can contribute greatly to the science of comets.
Dr. Daniel Green has been the Director of the International Astronomical Union’s CBAT since 2000. The CBAT is responsible for the dissemination of information on transient astronomical events (i.e. comets) and various IAU news including the announcement of designations and names of various celestial objects. He is involved in research of small bodies of the solar system — particularly, comets and meteors but also minor planets. He collects and archives/publishes data on comets from observers around the world, and these data are published in the International Comet Quarterly.
Dr. Green is also a member of the International Astronomical Union’s 15-member Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature, which approves names for comets and minor planets (including trans-Neptunian objects) and their satellites.
He obtained his Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from the University of Durham (U.K.).

April 20, 2023 ALP Partial Solar Eclipse Image Gallery

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Below are images taken by members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines. Therefore, all images are the property of ALP as well as the imager mentioned. Any intention to use the images should seek permission to the ALP as well as the main author of the image.

James Kevin Ty 

Images taken using Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera on Borg 76ED Refractor with TV 2.5x Powermate.  Baader 3.8 Solar Filter mounted on Vixen GPDX mount. 1/1000 sec exposure at ISO 200.

 

Jett Aguilar

Images taken using Lunt 100 hydrogen alpha telescope to capture whole disk images of the partially eclipsed sun as well as a Takahashi TSA 102 refractor with a Baader Astrosolar filter (ND5) and a Canon 7D DSLR at prime focus.

 

Kendrick Cole Ty

Partial Solar Eclipse at Maximum taken using Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Cankn EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L Lens set at 400mm f/11. 1/750 sec at ISO 100.

 

Raymund Sarmiento

Images taken using a Mobile Phone Huawei Mate20Pro with a Kase Mobile Scope and a DIY 3d Printed Baader Solar Fllter Adapter. Tracked using a Desk Top Polarie Sky Tracker. 

 

Val Thomas Abapo

Image taken from Cebu, Philippines using WO GT71 Refractor with WO 0.8 Reducer  and Celestron Skyris 132c camera.

 

Peter Benedict Tubalinal 

Images taken using Orion ST80 Refractor with 15mm Expanse Eyepiece and Smartphone.

 

Steven Bacalian

Images taken using Canon EOS 60D DSLR with Celestron C90 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope mounted on Skywatcher Star Adventurer. 

 

Vincent Gella

Partial Solar Eclipse at Maximum taken using Celestron Powerseeker 80MM with Celestron 32mm Plossl with 
Baader Solar Filter 5.0 and Celestron EQ-2 Equatorial mount.

 

Renan Acosta

Images taken using Samsung Fold 4 Smartphone with 30x zoom.

 

Jowen Kibtiani 

Images taken from Polomolok , South Cotabato using Real Me 8 5GB Smartphone with Celestron 20mm Erecting Eyepiece on Celestron Powerseeker 70EQ Refractor on EQ-2 mount.

 

Miguel Cano

Safe projection method used by Miguel Cano using binoculars to show a sharper eclipsed Sun. 

 

Teddy-Ty Chua

Image taken using Samsung S21 ultra.. 70x zoom and Solar Filter.

 

Fung Yu

Image taken using Canon 70D DSLR with Canon EF300mm lens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2023 Father Victor L. Badillo Astronomy Service Award

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ALPer Raymund Sarmiento is this year’s Father Victor L. Badillo Astronomy Service Awardee for 2023 for his “For his innovative development of EQMOD, an open source telescope mount control software, which greatly aided astronomers worldwide.”

Raymund is the Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of GMA New Media, the technology arm of GMA Network.

Serving as CTO of GMA New Media for the past 20 years, he is the co-inventor of some of the R&D projects for the organization, with patents obtained and applied locally and abroad.

He has extensive experience in AI and robotics, recently creating from scratch a Rubiks Cube Solver Robot.

An amateur astronomer as well as member of ALP since 2004,  he also developed a Telescope Observatory / Automation algorithm called EQMOD, which he launched as an open source project in 2006. It remains active to this day.

April Global Astronomy Month Free Telescope Viewing Event

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There will be a free telescope viewing event by the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) on April  23 at Luneta and 30, 2023 at SM BY the Bay (SMBY) near the fountain area in celebration of Global Astronomy Month 2023.

On April 23rd, the event will start at 3:30pm with a free solar viewing session wherein the public get a chance to view the Sun safely with our member’s solar telescopes. The solar session will end at around 5:00pm.

Afterwards ,  night time free telescope viewing event will start at 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The event is free to everyone to join and get a chance to view planet Venus, Orion Nebula, double star Castor and many more!

Lastly on April 30th, ALP will held another GAM Free Telescope Viewing Event at SM by the Bay (SMBY) from 7:00pm to 9:30pm. The event is free to everyone to join and get a chance to view the Waxing Crescent Moon, planets Jupiter & Venus, Orion Nebula, double star Castor and many more!

See you all there! Please share these events to your friends and family.

April 15, 2023 ALP Global Astronomy Month Astro Webinar Talk

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Please join us online this coming April 15, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (8:00 a.m. EST), as we celebrate Global Astronomy Month.

There will be two online talks to be given by our Astronomical League of the Philippines members. The first talk will be on “The EQMOD Platform” by Mr. Raymund Sarmiento.  EQMOD is an open-source software project that was initially developed by a team of amateur astronomers led by Mr. Sarmiento. The project was started in the early 2000s as a way to provide computer control of equatorial telescope mounts, which can be used for astrophotography and other observational purposes. The development of EQMOD was made possible through the collaborative efforts of a community of amateur astronomers who contributed their time, skills, and resources to create an open-source software platform that is available to everyone. Today, EQMOD continues to be developed and maintained by a community of volunteers who support the software and its users.

The second talk will be on “Remote Astrophotography: The dream, the challenges” by Mr. Enrico Africa, who is also a member of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society. Mr. Africa will discuss the options available for  remote astrophotography and the solutions he had discovered  based on his own experience. He will specifically mention what one would need in doing remote astronomical photography in terms of hardware and software requirements as well as what are currently available. Enrico “Eric” Africa is a passionate amateur astronomer and astrophotographer and had been interested in astronomy for most of his life The apparition of Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) in 1996 triggered his interest in observational astronomy. Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) in 1997 got him into astrophotography, first using film, and then digital imaging starting in 2001. Many of his images have been featured in Sky & Telescope, Astronomy Magazine and Astronomy Now magazines. He has been using a remote observatory in the dark skies of New Mexico since 2011.

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