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February 18, 2024 ALP Free Telescope Viewing at SM MOA SMBY near Viking’s

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Last February 18, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) hosted a free telescope viewing event at SM Mall of Asia SMBY near Viking area. Members who attended were ALP President James Kevin Ty  and son Kendrick Cole KC Ty; Teddy-Ty Chua and son Robert Chua; Pam Sabado, Sarah Hazel Maranan, Miguel Cano and son Quark Cano. 2 scopes were setup for the event with James’ Borg 76ED refractor mounted on Vixen GPDX mount as well as a SVBONY WIFI SC311 camera mounted on Orion MiniGuide 50 scope and Teddy-Ty’s Celestron Nexstar 127.

They setup at the site at around 4:00pm but the Sun was obstructed by the clouds so no solar observation. But at around 7:00pm, clouds started to disperse a bit for them to view the Waxing Gibbous Moon as well as the gas planet Jupiter. Around 50 people were able to get a chance to view the said objects. The SC311 WIFI camera also allows up to 4 more people to observe and image the Moon through their own cellphone to get a souvenir shot for them to take home easily. The camera also allows up to 5 people to simultaneously view the Moon at the same time!  They ended the event at around 9:00pm. It was a good start as ALP hasn’t been able to do their usual FTV for a while after the Covid epidemic that hit all of us back in 2020.

Hope to see all of you again this coming Saturday, February 24 from 3:30pm to 9:00pm at Central Park near fountain and ferris wheel area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 18 & 24, 2024 ALP National Astronomy Week Free Telescope Viewing at SM By the Bay

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The Astronomical League of the Philippines, in celebration of annual National Astronomy Week 2024 will be providing 2 telescope viewing events on February 18 (Sunday) as well as February 24, 2024 (Saturday) at SM Mall of Asia’s SM By the Bay grounds near the fountain and ferris wheel area from 3:30pm to 9:00pm. Free solar viewing event from 3:30pm to 5:30pm which showcase our Earth’s closest star, the Sun, which can be viewed safely using our telescopes equipped with safe solar filters. Both white light and hydrogen-alpha wavelength can be viewed through our telescopes.

Nighttime viewing of the Moon , planet Jupiter and some bright deep sky objects such as M42 Orion Nebula, M45 Pleiades star cluster, bright star Sirius and many others will be observe (weather permitting of course.)

 

So what are you waiting for? Get a good chance to see them all for free! Invite your friends and family to attend the event! See you all there!

 

 

February 18, 2024 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker Series 2024 featuring Dr. Jonathan C. Mc Dowell, PHD

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“Chandra and the Invisible Universe”

18 February 2024 (Sunday) , 9:00 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (01:00 UTC), 17 February, 2024 8:00 pm EST

By Jonathan C. McDowell, PhD (Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Chandra X-ray Observatory)

Abstract: The famous Hubble Space Telescope takes the sharpest visible-light images, but only its X-ray telescope cousins can see the invisible, high-energy light that helps complete the cosmic story. The sharpest X-ray pictures of the cosmos come from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched in 1999 but still making discoveries today. Chandra’s X-ray camera can see erupting black holes, exploding stars and colliding galaxies — some of the most energetic events in space.

Jonathan McDowell will highlight Chandra’s discoveries and explain how it and other X-ray telescopes probe cosmic dramas, while infrared images unveil the cool, gentle process of star birth, and pictures taken with ordinary visible light give an overview of the everyday life of the galaxies. Combining all three views has been crucial to the astonishing discoveries astronomers have made in recent decades.

Jonathan McDowell is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Chandra X-Ray Center, which operates the Chandra X-ray Observatory spacecraft.

McDowell obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England, in 1987. After postdoctoral research at Jodrell Bank radio observatory in the U.K. and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, he has been at CfA since 1992.

McDowell studies quasars, galaxies and black holes as well as the effects of satellite constellations on astronomy. He is also the author of the internet newsletter Jonathan’s Space Report, which has been reporting on satellite and rocket launches since 1989.

In 1993, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 1933 OB as 4589 McDowell in his honor.

Register now for this free Zoom online talk using this link – 

http://tinyurl.com/578uff2d 

or by scanning the QR code below

or in the poster shown here using your cellphone camera. After registration, check your registered e-mail for the Zoom meeting link. Please feel free to share to your friends and relatives. Thank you. See you!

January 20, 2024 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker Series featuring Dr. Michael E. Brown

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“The Search for Planet 9”
20 January 2024, 10:00 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (02:00 UTC)
By Dr. Michael E. Brown (Professor of  Planetary Astronomy, Caltech)

In 2006, Pluto was demoted to a “dwarf planet”. Since then, a team of planetary scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has been searching for a hypothesized planet on the edge of the solar system. This is Planet Nine, and its search will be discussed by no other than Dr. Mike Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech.

Dr. Michael E. Brown scans the skies searching for and intensely studying distant bodies in our solar system in the hope of gaining insight into how our planet and the planets around it came to be. In this quest, he has discovered dozens of dwarf planets (and demoted Pluto from planet to dwarf planet) and is currently hot on the trail of Planet Nine — a hypothesized body that is possibly the fifth largest planet of our solar system.
Dr. Brown has been on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 1996 and has authored more than 150 scientific papers. He has also won many awards and honors, including the Urey Prize from the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences, a Presidential Early Career Award, a Sloan Fellowship, and the 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics. He was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2014.

Abstract: In the past 175 years, more than 30 separate astronomers have suggested the existence of a giant planet beyond Neptune. They have always been wrong. In 2016, Konstantin Batygin and I joined the list, suggesting that Planet Nine, at a distance perhaps 20 times greater than that of Neptune, is the only plausible explanation for a wide range of phenomena in the distant solar system. I’ll talk about why we think Planet Nine is real, how we are continuing to develop our hypothesis, and what we are doing to track down this elusive planet and when we might find it. Or why we, too, might be wrong.

Register now for this free Zoom online talk using this link –

bit.ly/3Sjw5V6

or by scanning the QR code below

using your cellphone camera. After registration, check your registered e-mail for the Zoom meeting link. See you! Please feel free to share to your friends and relatives!

 

December 16, 2023 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker Series 2023 featuring Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff

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“NASA’s Best Space Images for 2023 “
By Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff, APOD co-founder
17 December 2023 (Sunday), 10:00 am Philippine Standard Time
(16 December 2023, Saturday, 9:00 pm EST)


The year is about to end, and for all amateur astronomers and astrophotographers out there, we would like to invite you to an online talk on “NASA’s Best Space Images for 2023 ” by no other than the co-founder of APOD, Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff.


Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff will present some of the favorite images and videos from NASA’s highly popular science website, “Astronomy
Picture of the Day,” or APOD (https://apod.nasa.gov). He will discuss the science and the stories behind these images. The subjects include the distant universe, the Solar System, auroral displays from our increasingly active Sun, and much more.


Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before joining the Physics Department of Michigan Technological University. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Pennsylvania, and his main research interests include gamma-ray bursts, gravitational lensing and cosmology. In 1995, he co-created the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), which he continues to co-write and co-edit to this day. In 2023, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 2002 GB185 as 270558 Nemiroff in his honor.


Register now for this free Zoom online talk using this link – https://bit.ly/3Grlkcs

or by scanning the QR code below or in the poster shown here using your cellphone camera.

After registration, check your registered e-mail for the Zoom meeting link. See you! Please feel free to share to your friends and relatives.

October 28, 2023 ALP / Cutting Edge Free Telescope Viewing at Trinoma

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Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) in partnership with Cutting Edge held another free telescope viewing event at the garden roofdeck of Ayala Trinoma in Quezon City last October 28, 2023.

Members who attended were ALP president James Kevin Ty, members Kendrick Cole KC Ty, Mark Ian Singson, Teddy-Ty Chua with son John and, Dennis Marquez .

ALP president James Kevin Ty started the event with a short lecture on What’s Up Tonight followed by Basic Telescope Use.

The sky was clear through out after a heavy downpour in the afternoon. The Full Moon as well as planets Jupiter and Saturn were observed that evening.

More than 450+ people got to observe the 3 objects. The event ended at around 9pm with traditional group photo.

October 21, 2023 ALP / Cutting Edge InOMN Free Telescope Viewing at Trinoma

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Last October 21, 2023 Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) in partnership with Cutting Edge celebrated International Observe the Moon Night 2023 (InOMN) at the 4th floor Garden Roofdeck of Ayala Trinoma . Members who were present are President James Kevin Ty, director Peter Benedict Tubalinal and Dennis Marquez. Cutting Edge provided 3 telescope to host the event using Celestron Powerseeker 114EQ, Astromaster 114EQ and Powerseeker 60AZ.

Event started with Mam Viyow Ignacio of Cutting Edge introducing members of ALP as well as Peter Benedict Tubalinal as this evening lecturer on What’s up in the Sky as well as Basic Telescope Use.

Initially the weather was not looking good as thick clouds covered the entire sky but luckily at around 7pm, the Moon slowly showed itself to the delight of crowd! They also got souvenir images of the Moon taken using the 3 telescopes. Later in the evening, planet Saturn and Jupiter were also visible.

More than 200 people were able to view the Moon as well as planets Saturn and Jupiter. The event ended at 9pm with traditional group shot.

There will be another Free Telescope Viewing event next Saturday October 28 also at Trinoma Garden roofdeck. See you there!

 

 

October 29, 2023 Partial Lunar Eclipse

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October 29, 2023 PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE

On the early morning of October 29, 2021, there will be a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible in the Philippines as well as Asia. The Moon will enter the Earth’s light shadow (penumbra) at around 2:02am (PST) when the moon is 54 degrees above the western horizon. Moon then enters into the Earth’s dark shadow (Umbra) at around 03:35am PST with the Moon 33 degrees above western horizon. Maximum eclipse will occur at around 4:14am PST with the Moon 23 degrees above the western horizon, Moon will finally exits the umbral shadow at 4:53am PST with the Moon less than 14 deg above the western horizon. The whole penumbral shadow will not be completely visible as Moonset will end the event locally at 5:53am PST.

Since this eclipse is shallow, the Moon will be bright enough to capture even without a motorized tracking mount. Good luck to all and clear skies! Below is a simulated image of the Moon at maximum eclipse. Image by Eclipse 2.0

 

October 29, 2023 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker Series featuring Wally Palcholka

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The Night Sky Over America’s Beautiful National Parks

By Wally Pacholka (Landscape astrophotographer)

29 October 2023 (Sunday) at 10:00 am Philippine Standard Time

(28 October 2023, Saturday, 10:00 pm EDT)

This October 29, 2023 (Sunday), at 10:00 am, you are all invited to our 2023 ALP Astronomy Experts Speaker series online talk by the noted landscape astrophotographer, Mr. Wally Pacholka.

In this presentation, you will learn from an award-winning astrophotographer how to capture stunning landscape astrophotos that get published using simple equipment and technique.

Mr. Wally Pacholka is a  pioneer in the field of landscape astrophotography, and specializes in capturing National Park landscapes across the United States. His astrophotos have been published by NASA 47 times, National Geographic 29 times and TIME-LIFE 18 times, including four times as its Annual Picture of Year.

His work sells in more than 35 U.S. National Park gift shops and online at AstroPics.com. He currently has exhibits at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the Natural History Museum in New York City.

Register now for this free Zoom online talk using this link

https://bit.ly/3QjKpf0 

or by scanning the QR code below

or in the poster shown here using your cellphone camera. After registration, check your registered e-mail for the Zoom meeting link. See you!

Feel free to share this wonderful webinar event to your friends and relatives.

October 21 & 28, 2023 ALP / Cutting Edge InOMN Free Telescope Viewing at Trinoma

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Astronomcal League of the Philippines (ALP) in partnership with Cutting Edge will be having 2 FTV events this Oct 21 and 28, 2023 at 4th Floor Trinoma Roofdeck Garden from 5pm to 9pm. The Oct 21 event will also coincide with our yearly International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN). 

ALP will also be providing 2 live lectures on the spot on how to use a telescope as well as What’s up in the Sky which we will explain what objects that can be viewed on those dates. Several Celestron telescope models will be on display as well as to be use on the event.

Definitely, the Moon and planet Saturn will be good main targets on those dates. Feel free to being tour friends and relative to view the beauty of the night sky with us! Thanks in advance for the support!

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