March 25, 2017 ALP Stargazing Session Report

March 25, 2017 ALP Stargazing Session Report
by James Kevin Ty
Images by James Kevin Ty, Shubhashish Banerjee , Mark Ian Singson , Ronald Sison

Last March 25, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines held its out of town stargazing session under the dark skies of Big Handys Ground in Tanay, Rizal. members who were present were ALP President James Kevin Ty, Treasurer Andrew Ian Chan, Auditor Edgar Ang, PRO Edge Lat, directors Shubhahshish Banerjee, Peter Benedict Tubalinal with daughter Stephanie Tubalinal and Ronald Sison together with ]friends Martin Rahnitzsch , Imee de Guzman, Nori Yumol, Tessa Dewi and Swagat Kadam; Mark Ian Singson , Joyce Gonsalves and friend Priyanka Barve.

They departed Manila in convoy cars at around 2:30pm and arrive at the site at around 4:30pm. Big Handys Ground is about 1.5 to 2 hours trip from Manila. Since the terrain is a bit hard to access without a 4x4 car, one would need to walk up about 200meters up a rough road and another 30-40 steps ladder to reach the camp site. The effort is worth it as one can get to see a beautiful 360 degree view of beautiful mountain range. With early knowledge of the terrain, members brought along light imaging gears. James brought along his Canon EOS1000D (M) DSLR mounted on top of a reliable Kenko Sky Memo-R star tracker ; Andrew with his Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Ef 16-35mm f/2.8 lens mounted on Vixen Polarie star tracker; Ronald with his Nikon DSLR with Nikon 70-200mm f.2,8 zoom lens mounted on Celestron Nexstar mount and Vixen Polarie star tracker ; Edgar wit his Celestron Nexstar 90GT refractor ; Peter with his Celestron AstroMaster C130 reflector on EQ3 mount ; Mark with his Canon EOS 60D with wide angle lenses on sturdy tripod ; Shubhashish with his Canon 70D DSLR with Canon EF 24-70mm f.2.8 lens on Vixen Polarie star tracker.

During the course of the night, They were able to observe numerous deep sky objects as well as planet Jupiter and Saturn. Most of them conmcentarted on imaging the beautiful Summer Milky Way while James concentrated on imaging NGC 3372 Eta Carina Nebula in Carina, NGC5139 Omega Centauri Globular Star Cluster in Centaurus, Comet 41/P Tuttle-Giacobini-Kreasak as well as the pair of M8 Lagoon and M20 Triffid Nebula in Sagittarius and last but not the least, the thin crescent Moon with Earthshine to conclude the session. Temperature was a bit cold after midnight at around 21 deg C with high humidity 91% near the early morning time.

They do hope to return back in the month of May they would like to thank the great hospitality of Mam May and Sir Ernie Serrano as well as fun time with their lovely dogs Ella, Tektite and my favorite Aria, Alaskan Malamute.

ALPers Shubhashish and Joyce enjoying the dark skies at Big Handys Ground.	ALPers Edgar , Peter and Edge beside a Celestron Nexstar 90GT refractor.
ALPer Ronald chatting with her office friends while enjoying the night sky.	ALPer Andrew beside his panoramic setup with Canon EOS 500D DSLR with EF 16-35mm f/2.8L on Vixen Polarie star tracker.
ALPer James Kevin beside his Canon EOS 1000D (M) DSLR with Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens on Kenko Sky Memo-R star tracker mount.	ALPer Mark beside his Canon EOS 60D DSLR with EFS 18-55mm kit lens on sturdy tripod mount.
Comet 41/P Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak by James Kevin Ty	Moons of Jupiter by Ronald Sison
Ursa Major by Ronald Sison	NGC3372 Eta Carina Nebula by James Kevin Ty
NGC 5139 Omega Centauri Globular Star Cluster by James Kevin Ty	NGC 5139 Omega Centauri Globular Star Cluster by Ronald Sison
M8 Lagoon and M20 Triffid Nebula by James Kevin Ty	M8 Lagoon and M20 Triffid Nebula by Ronald Sison
Summer Milky Way by Shubhashish Banerjee	Summer Milky Way by Ronald Sison
Summer Milky Way by Mark Ian SIngson	Summer Milky Way by Mark Ian Singson
Thin Crescent Moon by James Kevin Ty	Earthshine by James Kevin Ty
Aerial Drone Image of Big Handys Ground by Ronald Sison	Bulaluhan breakfast at Mang Vics after a tiring fruitful deep sky session at Big Handyus Ground.