December 22-23, 2012 ALP Caliraya Stargazing Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty, Mike Enage , Francisco Lao, Jr. and Raymund Sarmiento

Last December 22, despite the prediction of a so so weather, some members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) decided to proceed to Caliraya , Laguna to have another weekend stargazing session under dark sky.   Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, wife Charito and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; Mike Enage , Francisco 'Jun' Lao, Jr and Raymund Sarmiento.

They individually proceeded to the site at their own pace but mostly arrived at the site at around 8:30pm. The sky was partly clear with clouds passing in between intervals.  Unfortunately, mild drizzle are prevalent this time around that force them to do limited astroimaging mostly using tripod instead of tracking platforms such as the new craze in town, ultra portable Vixen Polarie star tracker. All of them have their own Polarie trackers at their disposal that evening.

With passing clouds interfering a possible long exposure shots through the CCD camera, James opted to cancel his imaging session and observe visually as well as observe  a few Geminids along the way. Mike was able to test image M42 with a 300mm lens on top of his Polarie mount as well as also do tripod mounted astro imaging.  Jun Lao and Raymund used wide angle lenses on sturdy tripod to image the sky. The weather didn't improve much through the course of the night :(

In the morning time, they then get their traditional group shot and headed top Jollibee Pagsanjan and had their breakfast before heading home.  Overall, the session was not a wasted session as it was a welcome sight to have US based ALPer Jun Lao and recently rejoined ALPer Raymund Sarmiento around to join the regulars and had a great time discussing on astro tips and experiences throughout the night.

Canis Major Region by ALPer Jun Lao	Jupiter in Taurus with Hyades & Pleiades Star Clusters by ALPer Jun Lao
M42 Orion Nebula using 300mm f/ 5.6 lens mounted through Polarie Star Tracker using Bore Sight Mode by ALPer Mike Enage	Moon Halo by ALPer Raymund Sarmiento
Orion , Canis Major & Taurus Region by ALPer Raymund Sarmiento	Eta Carina Region by ALPer Raymund Sarmiento

Group Shot