I wanted to join so I can see globular clusters, nebula and galaxies, which are not visible in my backyard at BF Paranaque. My telescope is an 8” F7 Dobsonian which I made out of plywood and Discovery mirrors & Celestron x-cell eyepieces 25 an d8 mm. The optics is very good but these faint objects are obscured by light pollution and poor transparency. Moon, planets, open clusters and double stars are easy but other than the nebulae at Orion, that’s about all.

The instruction is to meet at the Shell Magallanes gas station at 2 pm. and leave at 2:30. I was there at 2 pm but I was the only one. At around 2:30 one car with Allen, Tommy and Jun Alcartado & wife arrived. Then Rafael arrived. We decided to leave before 3:00 pm, Rafael with me. Because of the heavy traffic at South Superhighway our two cars immediately separated. I reached Caliraya before 6 pm but since I have been there only once, I overshoot the resort and phoned Allen for instructions, doubled back and there met Allen who just arrived at the gate. The observation I got here is that ALPERS operate at different time zones. 2:00 pm is 2:30 to some and 3:00 to others. Later, others started to arrive and by the end of dinner, the last one was there.

We have bunched our gears and cars on top of the bridge and why we have to do that as we are almost elbow to elbow. The observation I got here is that all telescopes should be colored white, as black is invisible in the dark and you do not want your telescope to be bumped and kicked. Allen, James, Tommy and Raymund have white telescopes; Irving and Brian black, mine is varnished wood with some parts white. Blue color stands out well also, which is the color of Joseph’s Newtonian.

Yes, I was able to see globulars, nebulas, galaxies---very good. Not only thru my telescope but also thru the others ( this must be the reason why we were bunched up). Most of the M objects were thru Irving’s 10” Dobsonian that has a computerized object locator. The observation I got here is probably the most important in telescope observing- you must first locate them before you can see them. Also, that OIII filter is a must for nebula: the difference between "I think I see it" and "there it is". Joseph was with Irving locating the M objects and I always have a peek whenever they have one. I also looked thru Tommy’s 80 mm refractor, Raymund’s 10” reflector and Brian’s 8” SCT with binoviewers. Allen was busy with his Messier Marathon Run while  both Jett and James were imaging the whole evening so I did’nt disturb them anymore. Tommy first showed me Omega Centauri ( impressive) which he located in my telescope and also the jewel box star cluster. Rafael located M 7 but the rest of Sagittarius is clouded. Jupiter was clear and crisp; Saturn also. Although the sky was open the whole evening there was slow down of activity by 2:00 am or so. The scopes & finders are dewy and also, I was inclined already to just gaze at the sky and night surroundings, and sometimes with my binoculars following the milk way trail and the numerous stars patterns and just chatting with the others.

Over all, I had a very good time. Thanks to you guys!