April 15, 2012 ALP Monthly Meeting Report
by James Kevin Ty
 

Last April 15, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) held their monthly meeting at Manila Planetarium.  Members who attended were ALP President James Kevin Ty , Charito Ty and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty ,  VP Jett Aguilar, Secretary  Christopher Louie Lu with wife Karren and daughter Frances; Bel Pabunan,  Nel Lagda, Liza Quitlong,  Norman Marigza, Gary Andreassen with wife Irma & son Steinar Andreassen; Mike Enage , Jan Karlo Hernandez, Miguel Enrique Cajita, Joanne Escober and Sheldon Espartero.

Meeting proper started at around 3:00pm with ALP Secretary and NAW chairman Christopher Louie Lu who presented the highlights of  Global Astronomy Month's (GAM) activities  that ALP can participate.  Among the GAM activities ALP had already participated are Hello Mars , Beauty without Borders, SunDay, Lunar Week and Saturn Watch.  He also discussed on how to observe the Lyrid meteor shower.

ALP will also be having its final leg of the ALP Philippine Messier Marathon at Caliraya this coming April 21.  This will also coincide with its GAM activity on the Lyrid Watch at the site.

Afterwards, ALP VP Jett Aguilar touched on the upcoming May 21 annular solar eclipse (partial solar eclipse in the Philippines).  He describe what's the best site for one to observe the eclipse here in the country as well as safety precaution in observing a solar eclipse.  The use of a safe solar filter is recommended to observe the eclipse properly.

ALPers listened to the astro lectures presented today by ALPers Christopher Louie Lu and Jett Aguilar.	ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu discussed  Global Astronomy Month's activities  that ALP can participate.
ALP VP Jett Aguilar discussed on the upcoming May 21, 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse (Partial Solar Eclipse in the Philippines)	ALP President James Kevin Ty added experience info on what to expect if one will travel to the annular eclipse path to observe the annular eclipse based from his August 1998 annular solar eclipse experience in Malaysia.

Lastly, ALP President James Kevin Ty shares additional  information  on how an annular solar eclipse looks like for those wanting to observe the event in the annular eclipse path.  James was able to observe an annular total solar eclipse way back in August of 1998 in Pulau Dayang in Malaysia.

The meeting ended at around 5:00pm and James help collimate fellow ALPers Gary Andreassen's Celestron C6N as well as Mike Enage's Skywatcher 114 Newtonian reflectors in time for use later in the evening at Astrocamp for their Global Astronomy Month's Saturn Watch.