February 14, 2016 ALP NAW Opening Report

February 14, 2016 ALP NAW Opening Day Report
by James Kevin Ty

Last February 14, Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) held their National Astronomy Week (NAW) Opening Day event at SM Exploreum and SMBY. Members who are present are ALP President James Kevin Ty, wife Charito and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; VP Jett Aguilar, Secretary Christopher Louie Lu ,Treasurer and NAW Chairman Andrew Ian Chan , Auditor Edgar Ang, directors Iah Serna, Shubhashish Banerjee; Justine Garcia and Mark Ian Singson.

The event started at around 2:30pm with ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu giving out an interesting lecture entitled "Going Beyond: A Brief History of Space Exploration." Space Exploration is an enterprise that pushes the limit of our technological, engineering & no less our financial endeavors. Humanity began exploring space almost a century ago & while the universe is known to be 14 billion years old, it's safe to say that Space Exploration is still in its embryonic stage. However, consider what we have achieved. In the past year alone the European Space Agency landed a probe on the surface of a comet while NASA, with its New Horizons Probe, visited Pluto one of the largest objects found in that region of our Solar System. Truly, humanity has reach the 'Golden Age' of space Exploration.

But when did all this start? How did we get from where we were, to where we are now?

- Myths from ancient civilizations gave us the 1st attempt to explain how nature & the universe works. These are, what I call, the early form of exploration of the universe.

- Greek philosophers gave us the earliest & general view of our solar system. Making close to accurate measurements of the size & distances of the Earth, Moon & Sun. Creating the Geocentric Model of the universe.

- Observations made by Copernicus & Kepler changed the Geocentric Model to a Heliocentric Model of our Solar System. Using Brahe's detailed observation of celestial bodies, Kepler was able to derive the Laws of Planetary Motion & make accurate predictions of planet positions.

- Using a telescope Galileo not only confirmed the heliocentric model but also, for the first rime, showed that planets are other worlds. Actual places in space that, in the future, a destination we can go to.

- Newton codified the Laws of Motion & the Universal Law of Gravity. This provided the intellectual "launch pad', The Way to reach for other worlds?

Space Exploration Timeline: (http://www.seasky.org/space-exploration/space-timeline-menu.html)

1961 - 1970

The decade of the sixties was in many ways the golden age of space exploration, featuring the first manned space missions, the American Mercury and Gemini programs, and the first Moon landing in 1969.

1971 - 1980

This decade saw the Apollo program come to a close. The next few years were dominated by the first orbiting space stations and the first space probes sent to explore the mysteries of the Solar System.

1981 - 1990

The decade of the eighties saw the beginning of the Space Shuttle program with all of its triumphs and its tragedies. Many amazing discoveries were also made throughout the Solar System.

1981 - 1990

The decade of the eighties saw the beginning of the Space Shuttle program with all of its triumphs and its tragedies. Many amazing discoveries were also made throughout the Solar System.

2001 - 2010

After the turn of the century, another disaster plagued the Space Shuttle program. The Shuttle was eventually retired and commercial space companies began to take the initiative for exploring space.

2011 - 2020

The second decade of the new century sees commercial companies gearing up to take over low Earth orbit space travel. Many new deep space programs are currently under development for the future.

At around 4:00pm, ALPers proceeded to SM By The Bay South Side conduct a free solar and stargazing session to the public. ALP President James Kevin Ty setup Meade 8" f/10 SCT on Vixen GP-DX mount ; ALP Treasurer and NAW Chairman Andrew Ian Chan brought along Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount ; ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu with his Celestron Powerseeker 80 refractor on CG-2 mount ; ALP director Shubhashish Banejee brought along his Celestron 70AZ refractor on altazimuth mount; Cutting Edge staffs with their Celestron Nexstar 5SE. They started the solar viewing session from 4:00pm till 6:00pm to view the Sun in Ha and white light wavelength before they do non stop observing and switched to night time stargazing session till 9:30pm before they end the observing session with more than 2000+ people got to look through various telescopes brought along by ALPers. Interesting night time objects observed were the Moon up close and personal as well as Jupiter, Orion Nebula and Pleiades Star Cluster. Afterwards, they posed for some group shots before packing up their telescopes. Some of them also proceeded to Razons to have a very late dinner as well as chill out after a long and tiring but enjoyable NAW opening day event! See you on February 20 for the ALP NAW closing activity also at Exploreum and SMBY South Side.

ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu giving out an interesting lecture entitled "Going Beyond: A Brief History of Space Exploration."	ALPers were there to listen to Christopher Louie Lu's very detailed lecture on the history of space exploration.
ALP free public solar viewing was held at SMBY for free viewing of the Sun through white light and Ha wavelength through various telescopes equipped with solar filters for safe viewing of the Sun.	ALP President James Kevin Ty brought along his trusty Coronado PST-Ha to let the public gets a good peek of the Sun in Ha wavelength.
ALP President James Kevin Ty help a viewer look through the Coronado PST-Ha.	ALP VP Jett Aguilar brought along his Celestron C90 mounted on a portable Kenko Sky Memo star tracker.
ALP Treasurer and NAW Chairman Andrew Ian Chan and director Iah Serna brought along his Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount.	ALP Auditor Edgar Ang guide the public to look through the Coronado PST-Ha solar scope.
ALP Secretary Christopher Louie Lu brought along his Celestron Powerseeker 80 refractor on CG2 mount.	ALP director Shubhashish Banerjee brought along his Celestron 70AZ refractor on altazimuth mount.
A huge crowd of more than 500+ people get to observe the Sun in Ha and white light wavelength through various scopes equipped for safe solar viewing.	Solar Viewing Rocks !!!
Night time stargazing session started early with non stop continuous public viewing after the conclusion of the solar viewing session!	Who is the fairest of the 3? :) LOL
ALPer Christopher Louie Lu show the beauty of the Moon through low power full disk view .	ALPers James Kevin Ty and Edgar Ang beside the Meade 8" f/10 SCT on Vixen GP-DX mount.
ALPer Jett Aguilar is all smiles as he shows some kids the Moon through his C90 scope.	ALPer Shubhashish Banerjee popinted his Celestron 70AZ refractor on the Moon.
More than 2000+ people got to view the Sun and night time objects from 4:00pm to 9:30pm! What an awesome night!	Nice low power view through the 60mm rich field refractor.
Awesome Lunar views from the Celestron Nexstar 5SE brought along by Cutting Edge staffs. Thanks !	ALPer Mark Ian SIngson brought along his portable 60mm rich field refractor on sturdy tripod.
ALPers' dynamic duo Andrew Ian Chan and Iah Serna enjoying their hot dog snacks while letting the public view the planet Jupiter.	Jupiter rocks on the Meade 8" f/10 SCT ! See you all next week on February 20th!