February 17, 2013 ALP NAW Opening / Stargazing Session Report

February 17, 2013 ALP NAW Opening Day & Stargazing Session Report
by James Kevin Ty, Jett Aguilar, Armando Lee & Norman Marigza
Images by James Kevin Ty & Christopher Louie Lu

Last February 17, 2013, the Astronomical League of the Philippines celebrated the 2013 ALP National Astronomy Week and 5th Philippine Astronomy Convention by celebrating the opening day activity at the National Museum Planetarium . Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty with wife Charito and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; VP Jett Aguilar, Secretary Christopher Louie Lu with wife Karren and daughter Frances Lu ; PRO Armando Lee with wife Mia and son Jason Lee ; directors Edgar Ang , Arnel Campos , Peter Benedict Tubalinal and daughter Stephanie Joy Tubalinal ; Christopher Lee and wife Sandra Lee ; members Nathaniel Custodio and son Terrence Custodio ; Norman Marigza ; Jason Kristopher Comia , Marvy Gulapa , Miguel Enrique Cajita and dad Trix Cajita ; Planetarium curator Bel Pabunan and staff members Liza Quitlong, Nel Lagda , Maximo Zabanal , Mary Ann Ramirez , Judy Carla Cruz ; special guests National Museum 3rd Director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador , Anita Ambrosio , Maria Divina Munoz and lots of guests and visitors as well.

The program started at around 1:30pm with ALP NAW chairman Christopher Louie Lu welcoming the members as well as guests to the event. This was followed by welcome remarks by National Museum 3rd Director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador and ALP President James Kevin Ty.

National Museum Planetarium then presented a nice free film show entitled Comets, Asteroids & Meteors. Afterwards, ALPer Norman Marigza discussed on the topic entitled Comets: Structure and Principles. The cometary structure and the physical principles behind them are usually a result of the interaction of the comet to solar radiation. Pressure heating from the Sun allows the icy materials to sublimate, carrying gas and dust into a cloud shell known as the coma. Solar radiation drives the dust tail out and ionized material is pushed in a straight ion tail by the solar wind. Cometary debris ejected out in space become a source of meteoroids which in turn will generate meteor showers if they follow an Earth crossing orbit. The upcoming comet ISON and PANSTARRS will provide us with new comets to study with their fairly close approach.

This was followed by ALP VP Jett Aguilar, who discussed on how to Observe and image the Comets. The history, cultural impact, and nature of comets were presented, including a detailed description of the first and only comet discovery in the Philippines, Comet Boethin 85P/1975 by Father Leo Boethin. The structure of comets, their classification into short and long period comets in relation to their possible origins from the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud were described. The current 1995 comet naming convention was explained and illustrated with examples. The basic requirements and essential tips for comet astrophotography were shown with some image examples from the members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines. Lastly, the potentially great comet show for 2013 was discussed with descriptions of the two bright comet candidates – comet PanSTARRS C/2011 L4 and comet ISON C/2012 S1.

Then a 15 minute break follows. Light snacks and drinks were offered to ALP guests and members. Group picture was also taken after the break. This was followed by another topic presented by ALP PRO Armando Lee who discussed on the topic Astrobiology: the fundamentals and latest findings. A teaser lecture about the basic principles being used in the search for life elsewhere in our galaxy. The lecture includes the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry as well as the instruments that are being used and will be used in the future. A list of earth-like worlds is presented to illustrate that finding another planet harboring life might soon be more a reality rather than fiction.

This was followed by the presentation of the ALP's prestigious award, Father Victor Badillo Astronomy Service Award, to the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio for his tireless dedication in researching and popularizing Filipino Ethno-Astronomy, thereby showcasing early Filipino cultures, beliefs and stories about the universe around us. Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador, who is a close friend of Dante Ambrosio, made a very special detail account of her joint research and works with Dante in his pursuit to discover the different ethnic beliefs and cultures on astronomy. This award was then accepted by Dante's sister Anita Ambrosio on behalf of her brother. She then thank ALP for recognizing her brother's dedication in the field of Ethno-Astronomy in the Philippines.

Cutting Edge, the exclusive distributor of Celestron telescopes and products in the Philippines, introduce their latest telescope product, the Prodigy telescope series. They brought along a Prodigy 70mm refractor for demonstration to the audience. This telescope has a built in GPS Auto Align system which simplifies observation even to a newbie going into astronomy.

Then ALP President James Kevin Ty and NAW Chairman/ Secretary Christopher Louie Lu then presented certificate of appreciation as well as a gift token courtesy of Cutting Edge to the lecturers of the event. Lastly, ALP President James Kevin Ty then close the opening activity by thanking all the guests, members and lecturers who made the event a successful one! He also invited all to attend the free public stargazing to be held that evening as well as Free Public Stargazing at AstroCamp in SM MOA, Pasay City on February 20, 2013 and the ALP NAW Closing Activity at Rizal Technological University - Boni Avenue on February 23, 2013.

ALP NAW Chairman Christopher Louie Lu welcoming guests and members to the ALP NAW / PAC 2013 Opening Day at National Museum Planetarium.	National Museum 3rd Director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador lead opening remarks at the ALP NAW / PAC 2013 Opening Day at National Museum Planetarium.
ALP President James Kevin Ty welcoming guests and members to the ALP NAW / PAC 2013 Opening Day at National Museum Planetarium.	ALPer Norman Marigza gave an interesting topic entitled Comets: Structure and Principles.
ALP VP Jett Aguilar discussed on how to Observe and image the Comets.	Guests and members listen on tips on how to image Comet PanSTARRS C/2011 L4 and comet ISON C/2012 S1.
Snacks and drinks were provided to guests and ALPers.	ALP directors posed with National Museum curator Bel Pabunan, 3rd director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador and Anita Ambrosio.
ALP PRO Armando Lee discussed on the topic Astrobiology : the fundamentals and latest findings.	Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador, who is a close friend of Dante Ambrosio, made a very special detail account of her joint research and works with Dante in his pursuit to discover the different ethnic beliefs and cultures on astronomy.
ALP President James Kevin Ty presented the 2013 Father Victor Badillo Astronomy Service Award to the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio as Anita Ambrosio and Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador looks on.	The late Dr. Dante Ambrosio is the 2013 Father Victor Badillo Astronomy Service Awardee for his tireless dedication in researching and popularizing Filipino Ethno-Astronomy, thereby showcasing early Filipino cultures, beliefs and stories about the universe around us.
Anita Ambrosio , sister of the late Dr. Dante Ambrosio, thanked ALP for recognizing her brother's dedication in the field of Ethno-Astronomy in the Philippines.	Cutting Edge representative demonstrates the latest Celestron Prodigy 70mm refractor.
National Museum 3rd director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa Labrador receives a Certificate of Appreciation and Gift Token courtesy of Cutting Edge from ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP NAW Chairman / Secretary Christopher Louie Lu.	ALPer Norman Marigza receives a Certificate of Appreciation and Gift Token courtesy of Cutting Edge from ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP NAW Chairman / Secretary Christopher Louie Lu.
ALP PRO Armando Lee receives a Certificate of Appreciation and Gift Token courtesy of Cutting Edge from ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP NAW Chairman / Secretary Christopher Louie Lu.	ALP President James Kevin Ty and VP Jett Aguilar posed with Dr. Dante Ambrosio's sister Anita Ambrosio and her friend Maria Divina Munoz.

ALPers and guests posed for a group shot during the 2013 NAW / PAC Opening Activity.

After the opening activity and convention, ALPers proceeded to Rajah Sulayman Park for their free public stargazing session. They then had a light dinner at Shakey's before starting the stargazing session. ALP President James Kevin Ty brought along a Meade 8" f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain on Vixen GP-DX mount ; ALP PRO Armando Lee brought along a Discovery 10" f/5 dobsonian reflector; ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu with his Celestron 80mm f/11 refractor on EQ-1 mount ; director Arnel Campos with his Celestron C130 Newtonian reflector on EQ-1 mount ; Miguel Enrique Cajita with his Celestron C127 Newtonian reflector on EQ-1 mount ; National Museum Planetarium brought along their Celestron C8 SCT as well as Skywatcher 100mm refractor on EQ-4 mount.

More than 500 people get the opportunity to take a look at the Quarter Moon in full view as well as closeup; Jupiter and its Jovian Moons, M42 Orion Nebula as well as M45 Pleiades star clusters. They ended their stargazing session at around 10:00pm with their traditional group shot!!!

ALPers having dinner at Shakey's before start of free public viewing session.	ALPers having dinner at Shakey's before start of free public viewing session.
ALP Dinner Group Shot	ALP Dinner Wacky Group Shot
Cutting Edge brought along their demo Celestron Prodigy 70mm refractor.	ALPers Jason Comia and Arnel Campos point his telescope to the Quarter Moon.
ALP NAW Chairman Christopher Louie Lu is all smile as he shows the Moon to the crowd.	ALPer Norman Marigza helps a viewer get a shot of the Moon through the telescope with his digital camera.
Astro Kid Kendrick Cole KC Ty posed beside the Meade 8" f/10 SCT as he had a great time viewing Jupiter :)	KC's classmate was also there to observe the Moon and Jupiter through the telescope for the first time.
Astro Kids posed with KC's classmate family	Astro Kids and Astro Moms
Wacky Shot of Astro Kids and Moms :)	ALPer Miguel Enrique Cajita and dad Trix pointed their telescope at Orion Nebula M42.
ALP Free Public Viewing Banner	ALP President James Kevin Ty posed beside Meade 8" f/10 SCT on Vixen GP-DX mount.
ALP Dad and Son Tandem Gary and Steinar Andreassen posed beside their Canon 1100D on Samyang 800mm f/8 Mirror lens.	ALP director Arnel Campos and Jason Comia beside the Celestron C130 Newtonian reflector on EQ-1 mount.