April 26-27, 2014 ALP Caliraya Stargazing Session Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty , Mike Enage, Ronald Sison & Mark Vornhusen

Last April 26, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) proceeded to Caliraya, Laguna to do some observation and imaging under dark skies.  Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, director Mike Enage , Nathaniel Custodio and family ; Mark and Arlene Vornhusen ; Ronald Sison and sons Ray and Raj Sison with guests Imee de Guzman & hubby , Noriza Yumol, Tessa Rahma Dewi

Along the way, James was able to see a double rainbow along Calamba area but the secondary raibow didn't last long but the primary rainbow was visible more than an hour! They arrive at the site at around 5:00pm and set up their equipment after having dinner. ALP President James Kevin Ty brought along his modified ATIK 16HR CCD camera with Canon EF100-400mm L lens on Vixen GP-DX mount ; director Mike Enage with his ATIK 314L CCD camera & modded Canon EOS 350D DSLR with TMB 92 refractor on Vixen GP-DX mount ;  Ronald Sison with his Nikon D3100 DSLR on William Optics 80ED refractor on Skywatcher EQ-5 mount & Vixen Polarie mount; Mark Vornhusen brought along his Sony NEX DSLR camera with Vixen Polarie mount ; Nataniel Custodio brought along his SBIG STF8300 CCD camera on Canon EF 200mm f /2.8 lens on Vixen GP-DX mount l Miguel Cajita brought aong his Celestron C130 Newtonian reflector on EQ-2 mount.

The sky was clear most of the evening except for a few small patches of clouds that dissipated quickly.  The entire stretch of Milky Way from Crux to Cygnus was visible !!!  James image NGC2158 Centaurus A Galaxy  as well as M17 Omega or Swan Nebula; Mike imaged M17 Omega Nebula nebula ; Ronald imaged 101 Galaxy as well as the Milky Way , Mark imaged the Milky Way with his wide angle lenses!

The group unfortunately was not able to get a traditional big group photo before leaving Caliraya in the morning as some had left early in the morning as the rest were sleeping. Nevertheless, the remaining members and guests had a quick group shot along the road overlooking Caliraya Lake. The session is still quite ok and looking forward for another good stargazing session in end of the month of May!

Double Rainbow by James Kevin Ty	Prominent Rainbow by James Kevin Ty
NGC5128 Centaurus A Galaxy by James Kevin Ty	M17 Omega or Swan Nebula by James Kevin Ty
Summer Milky Way by Ronald Sison	M17 Omega or Swan Nebula by Mike Enage
Summer Milky Way Crux Region by Mark Vornhusen	Summer Milky Way by Mark Vornhusen
M101 Galaxy by Ronald Sison	Summer Milky Way by Ronald Sison

Group Shot

Wacky Shot !