Great Balls

Got a huge blow-up Earth and a styrofoam ball (DIY colour and draw Lunar surface details) to show the Earth-Moon relationship during sidewalk. This is the closest I could get to accurate scale with the Earth at 40cm in diameter and the Moon at 12cm in diameter.

One of its uses is to demonstrate the distance between them which people often misunderstand due to the cramped illustrations in textbooks and TV shows. At this scale, the Moon is about 13.2 meters apart from the Earth. Will be using a measuring tape to ask people to guess the distance between the two objects. Will be fun to see their reactions, especially kids.

Product review

Allow me to begin by saying that I am neither affiliated with the publisher whose product I am reviewing nor am I sponsored by said publisher.

This astronomy learning set for children caught my eye when I was shopping at the MPH bookstore at JB City Square Mall a couple of weeks ago. Published by Parragon, it retails for RM54.90

It comes with a 64-page factivity book, a small torch, a double-sided poster, cutouts of Earth and the Moon, and 4 circular disks with punch outs depicting constellations.

I found it fascinating despite the product being made for kids. The factivity book comes with tons of adorable illustrations with facts for children to learn and activities for them to do. Some pages contain instructions on how to make objects such as a spacecraft with everyday household items while other pages contain stuff that you can doodle on.

The double-sided poster is a wonderful inclusion that complements the book. I am planning to use it to teach children in future outreach sessions about our Solar System. It is an item which I can easily carry about.

Cutouts of the Earth and the Moon are also interesting to have. I can use the small torch provided to explain and demonstrate eclipses. They were thoughtful enough to provide a paper stand for the cutouts which I was quite pleased with.

The 4 punch out disks of constellations are great for showmanship to entertain the kids and lets them remember how to identify certain popular constellations in a fun way. This can be easily done with a piece of paper with some pinholes though. But for the novelty of it, I'd say it's a welcome item.

Overall, I am absolutely satisfied with the product and may get more as prize giveaway for kids in future astro events.

If you like what you are seeing, you can check out their other Factivity products here: https://www.parragon.co.uk/products/factivity/?page_number=3

"Education" system

Just came back from holding an outreach session at West Coast Park and I want to talk about something that's on my mind.

A 12-year-old kid who is in Primary 6 came up to me with much curiosity while his parents were fishing nearby. The boy was seemingly interested in astronomy as he was asking many questions about the subject matter and even helped out with the outreach by telling passerbys what he saw and urged them to come have a look through the telescope. You could tell that he was hardly able to contain his excitement. When the crowd dwindled, we traded stories with each other. We hit it off real well and hours had gone by just like the wind.

Then the boy shared a poignant story about his school. The story took place during the partial solar eclipse that was viewable in Singapore last year. Apparently, his school had planned to view the partial solar eclipse that day but some of his classmates, including himself, were mischievous and that had got the entire class under detention thus missing the entire spectacular moment.

Personally, I feel that the school should have let the students enjoy the event first and mete out any punishments later.

Moral of the story - you can postpone a disciplinary action, but you cannot postpone a celestial phenomenon. Set your priorities straight.

I will neither name the boy nor identify the school. I am sharing this story with all educators out there so that such mistakes can be avoided in the future.

Saying goodbye

This post isn't really about Astronomy but I guess it has got something to do with it.

Started at the age of 14, I have been a smoker for 17 years now, it's time for me to say goodbye to cigarettes for good. This isn't my first attempt at quitting, I have had countless of failed tries in the past.

What made me want to call it quits? Thinking how badly stained my teeth are from smoking and how much I avoid talking during astro outreach sessions has its impact on the decision. I can't live like that anymore. Even during a normal conversation with friends, I try to avoid their gaze because of shame. My quality of life has been affected and I can't share the things I love to do with people without feeling like some hideous monster.

I feel that I have disappointed people who came for our sidewalk sessions wanting to look through our telescopes but mine was often pointed downwards at the ground because I had to go for a smoke break.

Things had to be done to better the situation and I have taken steps to see that I succeed this time.

Stopped smoking for almost 3 days now and I went to the pharmacy to get a product called Nicorette to control the urges. I was quite skeptical at first but hey, it works!

Booked a dental appointment for next week to clean up my teeth. I know that there's going to be a hell lot of oral pain but it has to be done.

I am also using an app to keep track of progress.

I hope this all works out and I can be a brand new person again and share the hobby of stargazing with a renewed passion.

Some updates

Hello people, once again, I haven't been actively updating this blog. So, I thought it'd be great to compile everything that I have experienced since the last update and post it as a single entry.

Martin Rees (16/06/17)

Thanks to Gary and the ArtScience Museum, we got front-row seats to the amazing talk "Exploring the Cosmos: From Mars to the Multiverse" given by Astronomer Royal Martin Rees. He spoke about why doing Astronomy is important, interesting concepts of exploring planets within our Solar System and studying exoplanets. Martin communicates the frontier of astronomy so eloquently and made it digestible to the layperson that only a few scientists have the flair of doing.

One thing I truly admire about Martin is that, given his age, he is able stand and give a talk for a long period of time. You could tell that he is genuinely passionate about the subject. 

The Q&A session was equally enriching. I got to ask a question to a Physics professor at NUS after the event had ended. My question was, "If the gravity of a black hole is so strong that even light can't escape, then why does a black hole emit gamma radiation and x-rays at its poles?" The answer to that was actually quite a simple one which I had never thought of - the emissions don't come in contact with the Event Horizon! Now, think of the Event Horizon as the "point of no return" of a black hole. Once something crosses it, it's goodbye.

It was a delight that ArtScience Museum had hosted this event. I look forward to more of such events in the near future!

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

A Camp Full of Stars (01/07/17)

We successfully organized a star party for the Singapore Cancer Society at the Boys'/Girls Brigade Camp at Sambawang. It was called "Camp Rafiki" and the theme for their camp was "A Camp Full of Stars"

The camp was meant to create awareness for patients who are suffering from the dreaded disease. We found it meaningful and decided to take up the event as charity work and not charge a single dime. SCS was still kind enough to reimburse some money for our transportation needs though. Participants of the camp were ex-patients and family members of patients who have fought or are still fighting cancer.

It was my very first time planning a star party and I am quite satisfied with how it all turned out. It was certainly cloudy for the past few days prior to the event and just like magic, the sky became clear at the night of the event. The location was favourable as it was dark enough to see some of the dimmer stars that belong to a few of the major constellations. Also, we saw Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon on that wonderful evening.

Before the live stargazing program started, we were treated to a speech by Ms. Ong Hwee Suan, a cancer survivor. She delivered a sobering yet inspiring talk about how she coped with cancer and how friends and family stood by her during her time of ordeal. All of us sat there, listening attentively to what she had to tell and we think that she's one courageous lady!

Image credit: Dave

The star party commenced with Gary's astronomy talk which kept all ears forward and perked the curious minds of younglings as always. Then came my turn to give a tutorial on how to use the sky map to identify constellations in the night sky. I must say that I did a rather bad job because my body was all tensed up and I was somewhat stuttering while I was talking. The thought of public speaking brings butterflies into my stomach. After that, we went right on to live stargazing for about an hour. Fortunately, as redemption, I managed to properly do a live demonstration with a laser pointer on how to identify some of the prominent constellations such as Scorpius, Southern Cross, and Centaurus using the sky map.

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Dave

Image credit: Dave

Image credit: Dave

Image credit: Dave

Image credit: Dave

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: Gary

I would like to take this chance to thank Gary, Dave, Thejo, and Valdric for helping out tremendously to make the star party happen smoothly. Thanks to the meticulous student facilitators and coordinators from Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, who accommodated our needs for the event. Lastly, thanks to Singapore Cancer Society for allowing us the privilege to conduct this star party which we will remember in many years to come.

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: NUS

Image credit: Gary

I have learnt several lessons from this - a) Planning for wet weather activities is way tougher than your usual stargazing program. b) I really need to put in more effort into public speaking. c) We should not take good health for granted. d) Spare a listening ear to a friend or family and try to help them out when possible, but don't overdo it until they feel that it's pitiful. 

Bishan Park Sidewalk (04/08/17)

The afternoon sky was as clear as sapphire but it deceived us all. Dave, Kwan, and I arrived to a cloudy Bishan Park in the evening. We were cursing the weather - how it was all perfect in the afternoon only to have it turn south in the evening. We didn't bother to deploy our telescopes but we all agreed to wait for another 30 minutes before we decided to leave for supper.

Lo and behold, there was an opening within the clouds and Jupiter was visible, albeit playing hide-and-seek among the drifting clouds. We began setting up our telescopes and the crowd poured in once we were done. Shortly after, Saturn cleared the cloud line and was visible, too. Gary and Uncle Wayne showed up later to support the outreach session.

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

The most memorable part for me during the outreach was when a little Filipino girl came to me and exclaimed that she was a fan of ours after we had showed her the planets and she was very expressive about it, what a cutie!

Image credit: Uncle Wayne 

One of our newest fans!

I think we only had an hour of relatively decent viewing condition before it all went to custard. Without having much to do, Gary and Dave went ahead to practice on their Ukulele while I was goofing around, joking with Kwan and catching up with Uncle Wayne.

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Astronomers going haywire during bad weather.

Image credit: Uncle Wayne

Partial Lunar Eclipse (08/08/17)

Managed to catch the Partial Lunar Eclipse with Gary, Thejo, and some new acquaintances at United Square Starbucks. The sky was blanketed by clouds but still, we got to catch a glimpse of it. Lucky.

The eclipse can be viewed in Asia, Oceania, and parts of Europe and Africa.  

Image and information credit: Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC

Image and information credit: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/singapore/singapore 

Image and information credit: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/singapore/singapore 

While waiting for the eclipse to happen, Thejo and I were watching a TV series. We started seeing bits of the Moon turning dark at about 1.30am SGT. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but it was real when the others noticed it too. That was my second time viewing a lunar eclipse! The eclipse reached its maximum at 2.20am SGT and here is a picture of it. It's not that pristine because of my lousy mobile phone camera.

That's part of Earth's shadow right there on the bottom left!

Here's a better picture taken by Gary:

Image credit: Gary

Though it was just a partial eclipse, we enjoyed it nonetheless. With the company of new friends and old, it was an even better experience. 

Image credit: Gary

Goofing out with like-minded enthusiasts.

Image credit: Gary

Image credit: Gary

My camera phone was so bad that I had to switch to my tablet to take a picture of the eclipse which was only slightly better in quality.

We are looking forward to the Total Lunar Eclipse that will happen next year on the 31st of January. If the sky is cloudless, it will be very spectacular! Gosh, can't wait till then...

Perseids Meteor Shower (13/08/17 - 14/08/17) 

The annual Perseids promises to bring us some of the most gorgeous meteor showers known to mankind. It promises fire(balls) and fury, just like Daenerys Targaryen when she utters the scorching word "Dracarys". However, I can only sum up my experience of the Perseids Meteor Shower with one sentence - clouds are my mortal enemy.

Yeah, yeah, I know, clouds are supposed to be good as it regulates the hydrological cycle. But during the Perseids meteor season?! Are you kidding?! ARGHHHHHHHH!!! *PULLS HAIR*

Actually, I have to place some of the blame on myself, too. I wasn't persistent enough to wait out as some had and were rewarded with a couple of pretty lights striking pass. Gary was one such person. Here's a meteor caught on video that's filmed by him at Bishan Park, Singapore. Enjoy!