October 20-21, 2012 ALP Caliraya Stargazing Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty, Gary Andreassen, Andrew Ian Chan, Berenice Viola Chan, Nathaniel Custodio, Christopher Louie Lu, Miguel Enrique Cajita & Jan Karlo Hernandez

Last October 20, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) went to Caliraya , Laguna to have their 2nd back to back weekend stargazing session under dark sky.   Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, wife Charito and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; Gary Andreassen , wife Irma and son Steinar ; Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan, Berenice Viola Chan and friend Sandra Lyn Co; Mike Enage, Ronald Sison with wife Adriel, children Adrian, Aleecia and Aldrin;  Secretary Christopher Louie Lu, wife Karren and daughter Frances Lu ; Miguel Enrique Cajita and parents Trix and Mel ; Nathaniel Custodio with wife Tere and sons Cedric and Terrence ; Jan Karlo Hernandez with his dad Jhunn.

They individually proceeded to the site at their own pace but mostly arrived at the site at around 6:30pm. The sky was partly clear. James brought along his TV-101 refractor on Vixen GP-DX mount with ATIK-16HR ccd camera as well as his portable setup in Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens with Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Kenko Sky Memo-R mount ; Gary with his Celestron C6N Newtonian reflector and Canon EOS1100D DSLR on Orion SVP EQ-5  mount, Andrew with his Skywatcher 80ED refractor with Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Vixen GP mount; Nathaniel with his William Optics pair of Megrez 90mm and Zenithstar 80ED refractors with Canon EOS 350D and 400D DSLRs on  Vixen GP-DX mount ; Christopher with his Celestron Powerseeker 80mm refractor on EQ-1 mount ; Miguel with his Celestron C127 reflector on EQ-1 mount ; Jan Karlo with his Celestron C130 Newtonian reflector on EQ-1 mount.

The sky was partly clear and they encounter some strong winds as well as short bursts of drizzle the whole duration of the night,  But most ALPers were still able to image wide field shots of constellations as well as some telephoto images of DSOs as well.  Unfortunately, their stargazing session got cut short after around 2pm as heavy rains started to fall til the morning time :(  Due to the continuous rain, they weren't able to get a group shot as they all departed the site around 7:30am as soil become very soft and muddy.  James and Christopher's cars were mud trapped for a while but were able to get out of the mud through the help of the site staffs.  Thanks!

They then headed  to Jollibee for their breakfast en route to going home :)  Despite the bad weather, they are looking forward to their next stargazing session this coming November.

The evening sky was good until around midnight only :(	Jupiter and the Jovian Moons by Andrew Ian Chan
Quarter Moon by Jan Karlo Hernandez	Quarter Moon by Miguel Enrique Cajita
Constellation Cassiopeia by Christopher Louie Lu	Double Star Cluster by Christopher Louie Lu
M31 Andromeda Galaxy by Gary ANdreassen	M45 Pleiades star cluster by Nathaniel Custodio
Constellation Orion by Miguel Enrique Cajita	M42 Orion Nebula by Andrew Ian Chan
Orionid with M42 Orion Nebula by Andrew Ian Chan	Orion Region Wide Field Shot by Berenice Viola Chan
First DSO test by James using ATIK-16HR encountered CCD frost (condensation on the ccd glass window) on M42 :(  Need to install heaters as well on the CCD camera nosepiece.	Chow Time Before Going Home :)