1st Philippine Astronomy
Convention (PAC 2009)
February 15, 2009
by: James Kevin
Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty, Dennis Buenviaje &
Armando Lee
Last February 15, the 1st
Philippine Astronomy Convention was held at the Plenary
Hall of the Rizal Technological University (RTU) in Boni
Avenue, Mandaluyong City. Among the members of ALP who were present that
day were ALP President James Kevin Ty, ALP VP Jett
Aguilar, Vincent Lao, Alice Villa-Real, Rich Pijuan,
Armando Lee, Antoinette Icot, Brian Davis, Christopher
Go, Raymund Sarmiento, Angie Tan, Edward Tan, Melisa
Bata, Nathaniel Custodio, Irving Raymundo, Dennis
Buenviaje, Henry So, new ALPers Rosalyn Penol, Miguel
Cano, and March Anthony Honrade. Astro Camp members
Bencie Lee, Wilbert Palma, Francis Esporlas,
Fermin Naelga, Mark Ian Singson were also there to help
facilitate the convention activities. RTU Astro Tech
students Frank Kelvin
Martinez, Rhyan Coronel, Pauline Pearl Divinagracia.
Lordnico Mendoza, Miguel Artificio and Ma. Angela Lourdes Lequiron
were also there to assist.
Aside from them,
representatives from various schools such as Rizal
Technological University, Cavite State University, Cayetano Science High School, Valenzuela City Science
High School, Trinity University of Asia - High School,
Pasig City Science High School, Polytechnic University
of the Philippines, University of the Philippines-
Diliman & Integrated School, Asian Institute of
Computer Studies as well as members of Philippine
Astronomical Society, National Institute of Physics and
IYA-NOC were also present to grace the event. An
estimated crowd of more than 230 participants filled up the Plenary Hall area.
ALP souvenir items such as pins, patches , key chains as
well as Bernie Esporlas' Starry Night Sky Maps were
available at the registration booth.
The event started at around
9:30am with the ribbon cutting ceremony to formally open
the 1st Philippine Astronomy Convention. ALP PRO Alice
Villa-Real, as master of ceremonies, ushered the event
with a prayer invocation, and followed by the
singing of the National Anthem. She then introduced
RTU Vice President Dr. Jesus Rodrigo Torres to lead the
opening remarks in place of RTU President Dr. Jose Macaballug, who was out with a bad cold.
RTU VP Dr. Jesus Rodrigo
Torres led the ribbon cutting ceremony with ALP
president James Kevin Ty as well as ALP NAW
Chairman Dr. Armando Lee (R) and ALP PRO Alice
Villa-Real (L) . |
PAC programme of
activities |
ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real was
the emcee of the convention. She is shown here
leading the prayer invocation to usher the start of
the event. |
RTU VP Dr. Jesus Rodrigo
Torres did the welcome remarks in place of RTU
President Dr. Jose Macaballug who was not able to
attend because
of a bad cold. |
The Plenary Hall was full
packed with students as well as astro
enthusiasts from various astro organizations. |
Another side of the Plenary
Hall showing almost full crowd. Not bad for
the 1st Philippine Astronomy Convention event! |
The first speaker of the
convention was no other than RTU Astronomy Technology student
Pauline Pearl Divinagracia who gave a talk entitled "
IYA2009". She gave a beautiful account of her
experience as one of the delegates chosen by IYA-NOC to attend
the opening ceremony of the International Year of
Astronomy in Paris. She was accompanied by IYA Philippines SPOC Dr. Cynthia Celebre.
Pauline also gave a full discussion of the
mission and vision of IYA2009 to the audience.
RTU Astro Tech student Pauline
Pearl Divinagracia gave a beautiful account of her
experience as one of the delegates chosen to attend
on behalf of the Philippines during the opening
ceremony of International Year of Astronomy in
Paris. She also gave a full discussion of the
mission of IYA2009 to the audience. |
RTU Astro Tech student Pauline
Pearl Divinagracia received a Certificate of
Appreciation from ALP NAW Chairman Dr. Armando Lee
together with ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP
PRO Alice Villa-Real. |
Afterwards, it was Dr. Jesus
Rodrigo Torres' turn to give a talk
entitled " Course Offerings In
Astronomy In The Philippines". He explained the
significance of studying astronomy and assured students who
are planning to take up the course that they will have a
good chance of landing stable jobs. More details on the astronomy courses offered by
RTU can be found at
http://www.astroleaguephils.org/rtuastro.html. After his lecture, Alice invited the students,
enthusiasts and guests to visit the Astrophoto Gallery
Exhibit at the adjacent room of the Plenary Hall where
astronomical images taken by members of the ALP were
displayed. Also, at the exhibit room was Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (SPP)
President Dr. Perry Esguerra who showed
students, astronomy enthusiasts and guests his
computer simulation on galaxy collision. Another
highlight at the exhibit room is a looped photo
slide show of the first 5 years of ALP which was played
through a laptop screen. There was also a
telescope exhibit at the ground floor of the Plenary
Hall which showed numerous types of telescope designs and
models for the participants to see. The telescopes
on display was later used to view the night sky after
the conclusion of the convention proper.
RTU VP Dr. Jesus Rodrigo
Torres gave an interesting talk on Course Offerings
In Astronomy In The Philippines. |
The Astrophoto Exhibit Room
was filled with students who enjoyed viewing the
beautiful images. |
Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (SPP)
President Dr. Perry Esguerra was also at the
convention, and here showing some students and astro
enthusiasts his computer model on galaxy collision. |
PAS member Fritz Barroquillo
was at the convention to view the Astrophoto
exhibits and had some conversation with ALP President James Kevin Ty on IYA 2009 matters. |
More viewers at the Astrophoto
exhibit room. |
Different telescope types and
models were on display at the convention. |
At around 2:00pm, Dr. Dante Ambrosio of UP Department
of History gave a interesting talk on "Ethno-Astronomy
in the Philippines." He tackled on how ancient
people integrate astronomy into their lives. He
investigated various ethnic tribes in the Philippines
and how they perceive astronomy as applied to their own culture. Then, IYA-NOC 100 Hours of Astronomy Overall Coordinator, Bamm Gabriana,
gave a brief discussion on how the 100 Hours of
Astronomy will be implemented in the Philippines on
April 2-5, 2009 as well as around the world. It was
expected that astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts around the world
will bring out their telescopes and share the views of
the heavens to the public. This is one of the
cornerstone project of the International Year of
Astronomy.
Then ALP NAW Chairman Dr.
Armando Lee, who is also the Sidewalk Astronomers' 100
Hours of Astronomy Philippines Coordinator, gave a
lecture on how the "Sidewalk Astronomers celebrates
IYA2009 (100HA, Global Star Party, IYA). He further
discussed how the Sidewalk Astronomers Philippines will
celebrate its local version of the Global Star Party this coming April 2-5, 2009. ALP will be celebrating the Global Star Party on April
4, 2009.
Dr. Dante Ambrosio gave an
interesting talk on Ethno-Astronomy in the
Philippines. |
Dr. Dante Ambrosio received a
Certificate of Appreciation from ALP NAW Chairman
Dr. Armando Lee together with ALP President James
Kevin Ty and ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real. |
ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real also
gave a short talk on how she got started in
astronomy and her astro outreach programs in Palawan
during the NAW week. |
IYA-NOC 100 Hours of Astronomy
Overall Coordinator Bamm Gabriana gave a brief
overview on how the 100 Hours of Astronomy will be
implemented in the Philippines and around the world. |
ALP NAW Chairman Dr. Armando
Lee, who is also the Sidewalk Astronomers' 100 Hour
of Astronomy Philippine Coordinator, gave a talk on
how the Sidewalk Astronomers as well as ALP will
celebrate the event this coming April 2-5, 2009. |
Dr. Armando Lee received a
Certificate of Appreciation from ALP President James
Kevin Ty and ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real. |
ALP member Raymund Sarmiento
then proceeded with his scientific talk on how he
designed the EQMOD software to improve the Chinese made EQ-6 and
HEQ5 equatorial mounts, making their tracking
capabilities more accurate. He
explained in detail his innovation, as well as made a
short demo using his software to drive a telescope.
Last but certainly not the least, ALPer
Christopher Go came all the way from Cebu to give
the participants an interesting and enlightening talk on
how he discovered the changes in Jupiter's Oval BA or
more famously called Red Spot, Jr. Christopher
made headlines around the world with his February 2006
discovery, as well as being part of
the NASA Hubble Team and involved in various research
studies to further understand the Jovian planet. He was given the
Father Leo Boethin Astronomy Achievement Award by ALP in
2006 for his discovery of Red Spot, Jr. This award is
given to individuals who have made important discoveries
which led to the expansion of astronomical knowledge.
ALPer Raymund Sarmiento gave a
lecture on how he was able to make a computer program
called EQMOD which improved the Chinese made EQ-6
and HEQ5 equatorial mounts into good astrophotographic mounts. |
ALPer Raymund Sarmiento
received a Certificate of Appreciation from ALP NAW
Chairman Dr. Armando Lee, together with ALP President
James Kevin Ty and ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real.
|
ALPer Christopher Go gave an
interesting talk on Jupiter and how he was able to
discover Red Spot, Jr. |
ALPer Christopher Go received
a Certificate of Appreciation from ALP NAW Chairman
Dr. Armando Lee, together with ALP President James
Kevin Ty and ALP PRO Alice Villa-Real. |
ALP President James Kevin Ty concluded the event with
the closing remarks and
thanked the speakers as well as those who made the 1st Philippine Astronomy Convention a
huge success, and a milestone in Philippine astronomy!
He then invited the participants to a stargazing session
with numerous telescope setups to let them have a live view of the night sky. Although
the sky was cloudy that evening, the
participants were still able to get a glimpse of the
planet Venus through some of the telescopes aimed at the
bright planet.
Members of the ALP and some of
the convention participants later had a group photo taken for posterity. See you all in next Philippine Astronomy Convention
(PAC 2010)! Speakers from other astronomical
organizations and institutions are invited to grace next
year's event.
ALP President James Kevin Ty
made the closing remarks as he thanked all those who
made the 1st Philippine Astronomy Convention a
success! See you all next year again!!! |
Students and astro enthusiasts
gathered around the RTU school grounds as they waited
for darkness to start their stargazing session. |
More than 12 scopes were setup
at the RTU school grounds to let the participants
get the chance to view the night sky. |
ALPers posed for posterity
after the conclusion of the event.
|
See you all next year at the 2nd
Philippine Astronomy Convention !!!
For more activity images of the
convention , click
here.
Alice Villa-Real's PAC Images
PAC 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT
This year's Philippine Astronomy Convention will be held on February 15 (Sunday) at Rizal Technological University in Boni Avenue. This event will be whole day affair and ends with a public stargazing session in the evening.
Since this is the first PAC and
the event is in line with the International Year of
Astronomy 2009 Celebrations, there will be no
registration fee for the convention. However, those
interested to attend must confirm their attendance as
soon as possible since seats are limited.
Please visit this page for further
announcements. For more details of the convention, please contact ALP
President James Kevin Ty at
(0917) 8559863 or (0922) 8999ALP (257) or ALP Education / NAW Chairman
Dr. Armando Lee at (0917) 7922053 .
PAC 2009 Invitation Letter
PAC 2009 Programme
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