ALP 2nd Philippine Astronomy Convention Report
by:  James Kevin Ty
Images by  James Kevin Ty

Last February 20, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) hosted the  2nd Philippine Astronomy Convention at Manila Planetarium mong the members who were there to help out  were ALP President James Kevin Ty , PRO Armando Lee, Myra Lee and son Jason Lee, Treasurer Henry So, Secretary Rich Pijuan, Director and ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal and wife Joy and daughter, Tommy Tan, Vincent Lao, Andrew Ian Chan, Berenice Viola Chan, Rosalyn Penol, Mark Anthony Honrade, Roldan de Guia, Ellaine Pena, Lou Balayan, Jeffrey Canton, PLM Astrosoc / ALPers Procula Amarillo, Jennifer Sy, Rosemarie Balatbat, Marc Joven Cortel and Reynen Rose Pausanos; Planetarium staff / ALPers Bel Pabunan, Nel Lagda, Desiree del Rosario, Liza Quitlong, Mary Ann Ramirez, Lalaine Yorobe, Maximo Zabanal , new ALPers Henry Lapis and Bernadette Marilou Pilares, and members of the PLM Astrosoc. Guests speakers professional astronomer / astrophysicist  Thijs Kouwenhoven and astrophysicist Jelly Grace Nonesa,  Laysa Salonga of UPLB, Henry's friend Marilene Ng also attended the event.

Registration started at around 12:00pm with  the programme proper starting at 1:30pm.  ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan , this year's  emcee of the convention,  leads the prayer invocation as well as singing  of the National Anthem to usher the start of  the event. About 100 members, guests, and speakers attended the event.

Doing the opening remarks was Maharlika Cuevas, Director III of National Museum.  He welcome the attendees as well as wish success to the yearly celebration of the National Astronomy Week (NAW) as well as the Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC).  The purpose of the yearly celebration of PAC  during the NAW is to hone the skills of astronomers, whether professional or amateur, and give them the platform to present their research and works.  The 1st PAC was held last year at the plenary hall of the Rizal Technological University (RTU) in Mandaluyong City.

The first lecturer of the day was Dr. Thijs Kouwenhoven, a Bairen Professor and a Gruber Foundation Fellow at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Peking University in China from 2009 to the present. He is also a visiting academic at the Rizal Technological University, Department of Astronomy. He earned the Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Astronomy from the Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden in the Netherland. And in 2006, he was awarded the PhD in Astronomy by the Astronomical Institute "Anton Pannekoek", University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Thijs is also a lecturer in the just concluded South East Asian Astronomy Network (SEAAN). 

His topic for the convention was entitled "The Universe on a Desktop : Computational Astrophysics."  He detailed  Astronomy as the oldest of all natural sciences, and originated from religious, mythological, and astrological practices. Discoveries by masterminds such as Aristotle, Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, and Hubble, have transformed astronomy into a modern science. As fast computers are now available worldwide, numerical models have evolved fast, and have become an indispensable tool for each field of astrophysics.

Next lecturer was ALP President James Kevin Ty, who substituted for ALPer Pejvac Parhizkari as he had to return to Iran the evening before the event because his father met  a car accident and need to be operated on.  His lecture was supposed to be "How to Apply HDR and Time Lapse Techniques into Astrophotography."  He told James that he will share his techniques to ALPers in the upcoming  monthly meeting instead. Aside from being one of the founders of ALP and president/chairman since its inception, James primary interest is into astrophotography ,solar observation and imaging as well as solar  eclipse chasing wherein he had his first total solar eclipse in General Santos , Cotabato last March 18, 1988.  He then led several solar eclipse expeditions in 1995 at Khon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand; 1997 at Darhan, Mongolia; 1998 at Pulau Dayang, Malaysia : 1999 in Stuttgart, Germany and 2009 at Wuhan, Hubei Province , China.  His is already planning to lead another eclipse expedition teams to the May 20, 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse in Xiamen , China and November 14, 2012 Total Solar Eclipse in Queensland , Australia. He is also an associate editor and editorial board member of the Philippine Journal of Astronomy.

With James substituting for Pejvac, his topic was entitled "Digital Astrophotography."  James touches on the various commercially available imaging equipment such as point and shoot digicams, digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, webcams and cooled CCD cameras. He ended his lecture with  a slide presentation of some of his astrophotography works which covers wide field shots of Orion, Moon, Mars, Saturn, Sun in both white light and Hydrogen Alpha light, comets, deep sky objects, etc. 

The third lecturer for the day was Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa, who received her Bachelor of Science in Physics degree from Mindanao State University (MSU), Marawi City, Philippines in 1991 as an MSU scholar, and completed her Master of Science in Physics degree from Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), Iligan City, Philippines in 1999 through the Commission on Higher Education – Mindanao Advanced Education Project (CHED – MAEP). On March of 2006, she was awarded the Ph.D. in Physics at Hiroshima University in Japan. From November 2007 to October 2009, Dr. Nonesa was a visiting professor and researcher at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. Currently, Dr. Nonesa is an assistant professor at the University of Southern Mindanao. She is also a regional trainer for the Regional Science Teaching Center (RSTC) - Region XII, Philippines, and serves as an associate editor and editorial board member of the Philippine Journal of Astronomy.

Her topic for the convention was entitled  "Chandra View of the Hot Gas in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044."  She presented the X-ray observation of the hot gas in and around the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5044.  This analysis also revealed the probable size of the giant elliptical galaxy at the center of NGC 5044 group of galaxies.

The 30 minute coffee break followed after her lecture.  It also gave the participants an opportunity to talk with the lecturers as well as socialization among astronomy enthusiasts that attended the convention.

ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan was the emcee of the 2nd Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC 2010.)  She also lead the prayer invocation as well as singing of the National Anthem to signal the start of the convention.	National Museum Director III Maharlika Cuevas leads the opening remarks to start off the PAC 2010.
ALP President James Kevin Ty presented a certificate of appreciation to National Museum Director III Maharlika Cuevas for his full support of the PAC 2010.	(L-R) PAC2010 guest speakers Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa and Dr, Thijs Kouwenhoven.
Around 100 people attended the PAC 2010 event.	Dr. Thijs Kouwenhoven's lecture topic was entitled "The Universe On A Desktop: Computational Astrophysics."
Dr Thijs Kouwenhoven described how fast computers nowadays are  available worldwide and numerical models have evolved fast, and have become an indispensable tool for each field of astrophysics.	Aside from his topic on Computational Astrophysics, Dr. Thijs Kouwenhoven also share his last week's experience at the Sutherland Observatory in South Africa.
The 3 Pillars of Astrophysics	Dr Thijs Kouwenhoven summarizes his lecture in 4 basic points at the end of his lecture.
\ Dr. Thijs Kouwenhoven  answers to the questions being asked by the audience.	ALP President James Kevin Ty lectures on Digital Astrophotography.
More participants continues to join the event midway to the convention.	Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa discussed on the Chandra's View of the Hot Gas in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044.
Opening Screen Shot of Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa's lecture entitled Chandra's View of the Hot Gas in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044.	Different views of NGC 5044 from Chandra and ROSAT observation and images.
Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa's summary and conclusion on her interesting topic on NGC 5044.	ALPers and guests had a 30 minute coffee break after Dr. Nonesa's lecture.

After the break, ALP PRO Dr. Armando Lee gave a talk entitled "Operational Research Preview on Operating a Commercial Astronomical Observatory in the Philippines."  Dr. Lee is a medical doctor by professional, earning a degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Santo Tomas in 1996. He is also a passionate astronomer at heart, with a Master of Science in Astronomy degree from the Rizal Technological University, the first to graduate in the local astronomy degree program offered by the RTU. Dr. Lee is an active member of the Astronomical League of the Philippines, serving as its Project Relations Officer (PRO) and Chair of the Education Committee. He is the proprietor of the Astrocamp Observatory Services located at SM Mall of Asia’s San Miguel by the Bay Park, Pasay City. The observatory is the first commercial astronomical observatory in the country, offering splendid sights of the cosmos to the general public. Some of Dr. Lee’s achievements include: being named National Organizer of Sidewalk Astronomers’100 Hours of Astronomy and National Coordinator of Astronomers Without Borders for the Philippines. He is also an associate editor and editorial board member of the Philippine Journal of Astronomy.

On his lecture topic on Operational Research Preview on Operating a Commercial Astronomical Observatory in the Philippines, he discussed in detail what are the needed paper works to be done to apply for a business permit as well as the feasibility of its market in terms of profitability and research value based from his own experience running the first commercially astronomical observatory service in the Philippines,

The 5th and last speaker for the day was ALP Director and ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal.   He has expertise in the visual observation and documentation of meteor shower events.  In line with this, his topic was entitled "Observing Shooting Stars."  He discussed on the different types of shooting stars and its origins. He also touched on how to observe meteor showers  and record them both visually and photographically.
 

(L-R) ALPers James, Myra, Armando, Marc and Thijs lifting up Astro Kid Jason :)	ALP PRO  Dr. Armando Lee discussed on Operational Research Preview on Operating a Commercial Astronomical Observatory in the Philippines.
ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal discussed on How to Observe Shooting Stars.	ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Dr. Thijs Kouwenhoven.
ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Dr. Jelly Grace Nonesa.	ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Dr. Armando Lee.
ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Peter Benedict Tubalinal.	ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan and ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal presented the Certificate of Appreciation to James Kevin Ty.
PAC 2010 lecturers posed together for a group shot.	ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal  thanked all the participants of the PAC 2010.
PLM Astrosoc members posed with ALP officers and lecturers.	RTU MS Astro students posed with ALP officers and lecturers.

Afterwards, certificates of appreciation were handed to each lecturers by ALP President James Kevin Ty, ALP Secretary Rich Pijuan and ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal.

Lastly, ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal made the closing remarks thanking all the lecturers, guests and ALPers for joining the 2nd Philippine Astronomical Convention (PAC 2010.) He also invited them to join ALP stargazing session at the Rajah Sulayman Park in Baywalk after the convention for them to observe the beauty of the heavens.

Before proceeding to Baywalk, ALPers, speakers and guests posed for posterity in front of the Manila Planetarium. ALP would like to thank its  members who were able to help out on the  2nd Philippine Astronomy Convention!  Without their unselfish  dedication, be it small or big, the PAC 2010 would not  have been a success!  Thank you ALPers!

ALPers , guests and speakers posed for posterity at the end of the convention.

See you all again at next year's  3rd Philippine Astronomy Convention !!!