April 20-21, 2013 ALP  Caliraya Stargazing Session Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty , Gary Andreassen, Mike Enage

Last April 20, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines went to Caliraya , Laguna for their monthly dark skies stargazing session.  Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, wife Charito and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; VP Jett Aguilar, Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan, director Arnel Campos, Gary Andreassen with wife Irma Andreassen; Mike Enage, Mark Vornhusen and wife Arlene Vornhusen , Manuel Goseco and son, and guest Canadian amateur astronomer Nolan Smith.

They departed after lunch individually and all arrived at the site at around 8:00pm more or less. James brought along his Canon EF100-400mm IS L lens mounted on Kenko Sky Memo tracker mount & Vixen Polarie Star Tracker.  Jett brought along his Takahashi TSA102 refractor mounted on Vixen GPDX mount. Arnel with his Explore Scientific 103 refractor mounted on Skywatcher HEQ-5 mount; Gary with his GSO 8" f/4 Newtonian reflector on Orion SVD mount; Andrew with his Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount; Mike with his ETX125 Mak OTA mounted on Vixen GPDX mount; Mark with his Nikon 180mm lens on Polarie Star Tracker, Nolan brought along his Canon Image Stabilizer 40mm binoculars.

The Moon was still high in the western horizon and shows a very nice Moon Halo together with some scattered clouds.  James then refer to the Moon Halo as a bad sign for not that good weather to come that evening session but nevertheless, they were still hoping there will still be some clearing from time to time.

After the bright Moon sets at around 1:40am,  they were able to image some parts of the Summer Milky Way as well as Lagoon & Triffid Nebula through passing clouds.  They attempted to image Comet 2011 L4 PanSTARRS once again but was again foiled by low NE horizon clouds :(

At around 8:00am, they pack up their stuffs and had their customary group shot taken before going to McDonald's in Los Banos to have their breakfast before going home.

ALPer Mike Enage posed beside his imaging setup.	Canadian amateur astronomer Nolan Smith discuss astro equipment with fellow ALPers while waiting for4 the clouds to disperse.
ALPer Arnel Campos posed beside Gandalf, his Explore Scientific 102 refractor on Skywatcher HEQ5 mount system :)	ALPer Manu Goseco posed beside his Celestron 6" Newtonain reflector on EQ-5 mount.
ALP Astro Jedis :)	ALPers checking on ALPer Mike Enage's new Vixen GPDX mount.
ALPer Gary Andreassen posed beside his GSO 8" f/4 Newtonian reflector on Orion SVD mount.	ALPer James posed beside his portable CCD imaging setup in Kenko Sky Memo Tracker.
Moon Halo by ALPer James Kevin Ty	Wide field shot of Triffid and Lagoon Nebula by ALPer Mike Enage
M8 Lagoon and M20 Triffid Nebula by ALPer James Kevin Ty	Summer Milky Way by ALPer James Kevin Ty
Milky Way Star Cloud & Scorpio Stinger by ALPer Gary Andreassen	Beautiful Nebula Like Sunrise Clouds by ALPer James Kevin Ty

Group Shot

Wacky Shot :)