September 6, 2014 ALP InOMN Stargazing Session Report

September 6, 2014 ALP InOMN Stargazing Session Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty and Alberto Lao

Last September 6, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) proceeded to Luneta Park to celebrate the International Observe the Moon Night 2014 (InOMN) despite a not so good weather prospect. Members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, Secretary Christopher Louie Lu, Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan, Ronald Sison, Iah Serna, Mark and Arlene Vornhusen, Vincent Gella, Alberto Lao, Planetarium director Bel Pabunan and staffs Liza Quitlong, Judy Carla Cruz and Max Zabanal; Cutting Edge's Cynthia Jason and staffs.

They arrive at the site at around 6:45pm and set up their telescopes. ALP President James Kevin Ty brought along Celestron C130 EQ AstroMaster Newtonian reflector with CG3 mount; Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan with his Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount; Mark Vornhusen brought along his 1000mm Maksutov Lens; Ronald Sison with his Celestron C90 Maksutov on CG3 mount; Cutting Edge brought along their Celestron C130 EQ AstroMaster Newtonian reflector with CG3 mount and Nexstar 6SE SCT; RTU Astrosoc with their Celestron Firstscope 114 Newtonian reflector on EQ-1 mount.

The sky was initially clouded out but after 30 minutes, the sky cleared up and more than 1000+ people were able to observe the Moon through various telescope at low and high power views! The called it a night at around 9:30pm so as not to get tired out as ALP will have their 11th anniversary party the next day.

The group then have a traditional group photo before packing up and leaving with a happy heart as ALP was able to share the beauty of the Moon to many people! A successful event indeed!

ALP President James Kevin Ty aligning the telescope toward the Moon while the crowd waits.	ALPer Mark Vornhusen here showing the Moon through the live view of his camera attached to the 1000mm lens.
ALP President beside Celestron C130 AstroMaster Newtonian reflector on CG3 mount.	ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu aligning the Nexstar 6SE towards the Moon.
ALP Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan besides his Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount.	ALPer Mark Vornhusen wows the crowd by letting the people see the Moon up close via his camera's 10x live view!
ALPer Ronald Sison beside his Celestron C90 Maksutov on CG3 mount.	Long queues lined up all the ALP telescopes that are available for use at the Park.
Wow! The Moon is big on this scope!	A child is shown here eager to look at the Moon through the scope while ALPer Chris is there to assist :)
Pre, ang ganda ng Buwan sa scope na ito! Ayos!	This kid just can't get enough of the Moon! :) LOL
Planetarium director Bel Pabunan holds the ALP InOMN banner so that the people will know what the event is all about that evening :) Thanks Mam Bel!	RTU AstroSoc President Ehmir Cristobal and Jerome Felicidario manned the Celestron C130 AstroMaster Newtonian reflector while Planetarium Max Zabanal looks on.
ALP President James Kevin Ty took some video shots of the event.	ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu centers the Moon while eager onlookers waited for their turn at the eyepiece.
ALP partner Cutting Edge was also present to show support to ALP InOMN event! Thank you Cutting Edge	ALP President James Kevin Ty and Cutting Edge Cynthia Jason discussed future projects for both organization.
More than 1000+ people got to view the Moon on InOMN! Awesome!	ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu entertain questions from the crowd on the Moon and astro related topics.
Man! The Moon tonight is very bright and beautiful!	The crowd got to view the Moon from 7pm to 9:30pm before ALP called it a night as need to get some rest for tomorrow's ALP 11th anniversary party :)