You Just Got Moon-ed!

For the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to take pictures of the Moon with an 18mm-135mm zoom lens from the Cannon 550D DSLR which my cousin lent me. The last photo was at least a little decent when I experimented with taking a shot through the live view of the DSLR. All shots were taken in manual setting.

This shot was taken at Marina Barrage.

This shot was taken along Keppel Road.

This shot was taken at Toa Payoh. 

Tanjong Pagar Train Station

Last Saturday, Dave, Ava, and I went to the now defunct Tanjong Pagar Train Station for an event called 'Singapore Really Really Free Market' which is held monthly at different locations. We attended one last month at an industrial area at Bukit Merah and we have decided to go for it again this month. This event is about reducing wastage and giving away stuff for free and you can also provide free services, too. I have seen people offering portrait drawings, one dude offered free tarot card reading service, one lass offered free yoga lessons, and another dude even played music for the crowd. We offered to teach astronomy and live viewing of celestial objects. Everything is for free!

If you would like to participate in such activities, then 'Like' their Facebook page to receive updates every month on their whereabouts. I have attached the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/srrfm

I met Dave and Ava at Commonwealth MRT Station first and brought them to Cantoment Road to have an early dinner at a zhi char stall that I frequent. The food there was super awesome!

After the meal, we left and took a short walk to the train station. We arrived at about 6pm and we went into the station to look for the event organizers and informed them of our arrival. They appeared nonchalant and just asked what time were we going to setup. We told them that we were planning to setup at 7pm, outside of the train station when the sky darkens a little. But heck, we setup right after we were done talking to them. The 6pm sky looked cloudy but we thought to wait for awhile and it may just clear up later. Our backup plan was to look for Gary and James at Toa Payoh if the sky was still the same.

Our setups outside the train station.

Once we were done with our setups, we took turns to go back into the station to take some photos while one of us were looking after our belongings outside the station. There were not many people at the event when we arrived. It was a good time to take pictures because on normal days, that place was restricted to the public. I was chased out the night before when I went in to do a little reconnaissance of the Eastern and Western skies.

Inside the train station. Look at the beautiful murals.

One of the four statues outside the train station. 

People giving away free stuff.

When 7.15pm came, Dave spotted Jupiter first - what amazing eyes he have! I still had trouble looking for the obscure dot embedded in a still-baby blue sky. After Dave trained his telescope on Jupiter, he came over to help me point my telescope at the same object. I was still squinting to look for the King of the planets. Time to go for an eye checkup.

Okay, okay, I finally spotted it at about 7.25pm when the sky got a little darker. A few curious folks started coming close to us and we ushered them to our scopes to look at Jupiter. The human traffic was very low. Less than 10 people came to us. We ended the session at 8.30pm and started to pack up.

We then took a taxi over to Toa Payoh to look for Gary and James. When we got out of the cab, we witnessed the both of them entertaining what seemed like throngs of people queuing up for Hello Kitty plushies at Macdonald's except that there weren't any cats, the people were there for the telescopes!

Dave and I had a short discussion and we decided to go with his telescope, mounted onto my tripod. I was free to roam about to take pictures and helped out at Dave's station by manning the scope and explaining to the crowd what they were seeing when he needed a break or to help Gary at his station. Our combined setup was pointed at Orion's Nebula, Gary's 5" MCT was pointed at the Moon, and James' huge ass 10" Takahashi Mewlon was pointed at Jupiter. The scope was not as cumbersome as his 8" istar refractor, but it was still a giant to me.

This way to Orion's Nebula.

This way to the Moon.

This way to Jupiter.

For the first time, I got to look through the 10" Tak Mewlon and I managed to see Jupiter's Great Red Spot clearly. The image was better than the 8" istar. After the crowd lessened, James began to plug his Cannon DSLR to a TV and attached the camera into the telescope. There were a few hiccups here and there while trying to fine-tune the whole setup to gain a better image on the TV screen, James even dropped his DSLR and 5x Televue Powermate barlow onto the ground once - Dave's heart skipped a few beats and my gut gravitationally accelerated to the ground at 9.8m/s^2. Luckily, his equipment was fine.

It all went well after that and there were soft wows from the small crowd when a properly resolved footage of Jupiter finally came on-screen. We were watching Jupiter LIVE on TV! It was like watching some Nat Geo program.

Fun night we all had!

Setting up the LIVE view of Jupiter and a chance shot of Dave enjoying his Chicken Mcnuggets.

It's a different feeling looking at Jupiter LIVE from a TV screen.

Astronomy Textbook

Got this astronomy textbook at Bras Basah Complex before I caught the movie 'Chappie', which was an awesome movie by the way. Definitely not to be missed.

Getting this textbook reminds me of the time when I registered for an astronomy course with Cousera. I didn't manage to complete the course as I found it tough to understand. I was stuck in the topic of Right Ascension and Declination Angle hence I couldn't complete the test needed to proceed. I was more intrigued by the theory than the maths involved, so I just watched the weekly videos that an astrophysics professor at MIT posted.

I don't really fear numbers as per se, I just don't have a solid foundation. Like many other astronomy textbooks out there, this one has mathematical fomulas. I will be tearing the hair from my head in the next few weeks. Hope to push myself more to learn about the maths this time.

TED Talks

No, not that bear with a bong. TED Talks are a series of talks that host special guests. They are individuals who are experts in their field of work. They attend such talks to share ideas or to inspire the World.

Just today, I was surfing the Art Science Museum's website to find out what are the recent events that they are holding and I stumbled across a TED event that's going to take place on the the 18th of March.

The 'Out Of This World' talk seems the most interesting to me because I noticed the panel of speakers are people who deal with space science. There is no program details of the event yet, but my best guess is that they will be touching on space-related subjects. I have already registered for a seating at the event. I will only know on the 10th of March if I am being selected to attend the talk. If you are interested, just click on the link below and register for a place.

Register @ http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/ted-talks-screenings.html 

The speakers' profiles: https://conferences.ted.com/TED2015/program/guide.php

Nathalie Cabrol
Planetary explorer

To determine how life might persist on Mars, Nathalie Cabrol explores one of Earth’s most extreme environments: high-elevation Andean lakes and deserts.

While hunting for life in the fragile biomes of the Andes, Nathalie Cabrol has braved earthquakes, set a diving record and gathered data on the threats faced by mountain ecosystems in the face of climate change.

But Cabrol’s eyes are always fixed on Mars, which may have once had a climate similar to Earth’s mountain deserts. As a science team member for NASA, Cabrol helps design interplanetary experiments for the Martian Spirit rover, and researches new technologies for future missions to Mars and beyond.

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Alan Eustace
Stratospheric explorer

Alan Eustace leapt to Earth from the edge of the stratosphere wearing only a spacesuit, shattering skydiving records and potentially revolutionizing the commercial space industry.

On October 21, 2014, Google Senior Vice President of Knowledge Alan Eustace donned a custom-built, 400-pound spacesuit, was strapped to a weather balloon, and rose to a height of over 135,000 feet, where he dove to Earth at speeds exceeding 821 miles-per-hour -- breaking both the sound barrier and previous records for high-altitude jumps.

Leading up to this jump, Eustace and his partners in StratEx had spent years solving a key problem of stratosphere exploration: returning human beings to Earth from the edge of space using minimal life-support systems. In the process, they’ve opened the door to cheaper and safer near-space travel.

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Fred Jansen
Space explorer

As manager of the Rosetta mission, Fred Jansen is in charge of the project that could be instrumental in uncovering clues to the origins of life on Earth.

Fred Jansen manages the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, which guided a probe into orbit around a comet and dispatched a lander to its surface -- both firsts in space exploration. Although the lander Philae could not accomplish its full mission before going into hibernation, the data it’s already gathered will immeasurably multiply our knowledge of comets and their contributions to the ingredients of life on Earth.

In addition to his work with the Rosetta Mission, Jansen oversees the ESA’s XMM-Newton, an orbiting x-ray space observatory delving into the most elusive secrets of the universe, including black holes and dark matter.

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Stephen Petranek
Technology forecaster

Stephen Petranek untangles emerging technologies to predict which will become fixtures of our future lives -- and which could potentially save them.

Writer and technologist Stephen Petranek became a reluctant doomsayer when his earliest TED Talk (“10 ways the world could end”) racked up 1.5 million views. But Petranek is in fact an optimist who believes that humanity will escape its predicaments -- literally. Within a century, he predicts that humans will have established a city of 80,000  on Mars: and that not only is that plausible, but it’s also inevitable.

Petranek is the editor-in-chief of the Breakthrough Technology Report, a technology newsletter that ties scientific breakthroughs to investment opportunities. He's the author of the forthcoming TED Book How We'll Live on Mars.

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Sara Seager
Exoplanet expert

Sara Seager’s research led to the first discovery of an atmosphere on a planet outside our solar system. Now she’s on the hunt for a twin Earth.

Having helped pave the way for the current torrent of discoveries of planets outside of our solar system (or exoplanets), 2013  MacArthur Fellow Sara Seager is now preparing to fulfill her life dream of discovering a planet with nearly identical conditions to our own.

Seager’s present research and discovery mission projects include Earth-orbiting nanosatellite telescopes as well as the Starshade, a sunflower-shaped giant screen to block intrusive starlight, allowing a space telescope to zoom in on the small exoplanets that have thus far eluded our sight.

Edit* That was fast. I received an inivitation a day after I sent out a request.

Apprenticeship

I spent the entire of last Saturday hanging out with Dave, Ava, and John at the Marina Barrage to learn about photography.

Dave taught me a lot of stuff that I have never heard of in my life. I thought taking decent pictures was complicated enough, but after what I have newly learnt, I think it is an insurmountable task. I will cope eventually as time goes by, I hope.

So far, I have been practicing framing my shots. I have learnt about this thing called "The Rule Of Thirds", which is a framing rule. It's about the golden ratio of placing your subjects in two-thirds of the frame and never directly at the center as your subjects will look dull in such captures. It's something to do with psychology, I think. I roughly know what it is but I don't know how to explain it to my viewers. So, here's the link for better understanding. All hail Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Also, Dave taught me something called "The Golden Hour" in photography. Apparently, it's very important to consider the time of the day when you decide to shoot. The worse time to shoot is either on a clear, late morning or a clear, early afternoon as the Sun will cause a lot of white washes in the background of the picture. As a rule, if you eyes squint at something that you want to shoot, then don't bother taking the shot, it's too glaring and the picture will not turn out well. "The Golden Hour" is usually in the early morning or very late in the afternoon to early evening. That way, the photos will turn out to be more radiant. I guess it has something to do with taking advantage of the Sun's lighting at the correct moment.

Many factors also come into play such as weather and angle. Dave gave me tips on how to angle and use my subjects to block out street lights at night. I thought that was quite a neat technique to learn.

Initially, I was quite worried about things like ISO, exposure values, shutter speed ect. but Dave told me not to worry about that too much in the beginning and just concentrate on taking as many pictures as possible and brush up on my framing skills, and that I will get the feel of those manual settings when I am used to it. It kind of comes naturally? He did teach me about the triangular relationship of ISO, exposure values, and shutter speed - changing one setting will affect the other two, something to keep in mind.

Okay, enough talking, let's look at some shots I took that day. I have chosen only the better ones to show you. They have not been processed in anyway. So, enjoy. You feedback is very much appreciated!

Later that day, we received a Whatsapp message from Gary. He told us that he will be deploying his telescope at Toa Payoh to conduct a sidewalk session together with Haz. We still had some time in our hands and so we went down to a camera shop at Peninsular Plaza to get some memory cards and a hand-held remote control for my camera. Dave advised that, to take astrophotographs, it is a must to have at least a remote control to operate the shutter instead of using my finger as it will cause a lot of vibrations on the device. John bought one as well.

After that, we took a train down to look for Gary and Haz. Once there, Dave taught me about night shooting. We shot the crowd lining up to look through their telescopes. Dave told me that it is important to capture the subject's eyes when it comes to shooting people. The eyes are the essence. I have also learnt how to adopt the proper stance while shooting. I am quite a tall for an Asian, so I often had to kneel on a knee and place my elbow on my thigh to take a stable, leveled shot. It's just like holding a rifle and adopting the kneeling position when I was in the army. So, it was something that came easily for me but it was tiring as hell, There's no two ways about it, a leveled shot is very important.

Then came the part that I have been waiting for. Dave gave me a crash course astrophotography lesson. After unboxing the new remote control I have bought earlier, I jacked it into the DSLR and mounted the camera onto the tripod. Dave told me to change everything to manual on the camera, even the lens. Next, he explained to me why I have to set the timer to +2 seconds delay when I am using the remote control, reason being, there will be some slight vibration after I have pressed the button on the remote. The extra two seconds of delay are for the vibration to dissipate and the camera to stabilize. All these minute details are able to determine the outcome of a photograph.

The ISO was set to 800. The DSLR was able to handle at max a 1600 if there's a need to push it up. Anything higher, the "noise" will cause the picture to look grainy. I think Dave said it has something to do with sensor size.

Dave told me to half-hold the shutter button to check out the exposure value, making sure it doesn't reach a +2. Somewhere between +0.3 to +1 is still okay. However, there is an exception to this rule; when doing street photography, it is always at -0.3, only during astrophotography should it be set at a positive value. Changing the shutter speed affects the exposure value. He also taught me how to go to the live view and read the histogram which is also equally vital. When the histogram spikes to the extreme left, it means that it is being underexposed, making the pictures dark. When it spikes to the extreme right, it means that it is being overexposed, making the pictures look washout in the background. It's best if the spike hits the middle, that's the sweet spot. We set the shutter time for the first shot at 2 seconds, 18mm, F3.5, ISO 800.

After the technicalities, Dave looked through the viewfinder, pointed the camera at the constellation of Orion, looked for the brightest star which was Rigel and focused the camera until the star became pinpoint. I did the honour of pushing the button on the remote to take the picture. The subsequent pictures were at the settings of 5 seconds, 85mm, F5, ISO 800. and 4 seconds, 50mm, F4, ISO 800.

Here are the pictures. They have not been processed either. I know it was not very well-taken. Hey, it was my first try.      

I don't know if my interest for photography will continue to grow. I told Dave that if it doesn't, if it dies off, then at the very least, I have learnt something out of it - that's very important to me. That's why I created this blog: To learn and store my memories.

Orbit 2015

Watch this video that was taken from the ISS in HD! It will only take about 3 minutes of your time. I promise it will be 3 minutes well-spent.

Pure Coincidence

I was supposed to meet a seller on Carousell at Little India MRT Station this morning to collect a deck of astronomy-themed poker cards.

We met up and I sort of found this female seller bearing an uncanny resemblance to someone I have seen before. She asked me if I was into astronomy and I said yes, and I told her that I do sidewalks at Toa Payoh and Bishan Park and shamelessly invited her to an astronomy talk at Toa Payoh Library that's about to happen next week. She uttered the name "Gary?" and I was stunned for a moment. I asked how she knew him and she said she was into astronomy, too, but was too busy with life to catch up with the hobby. We parted ways after that.

Just as I was taking a train, she messaged me on Carousell and said that she has a slight recollection of me, that I was one of the participants who helped out at Nat Geo's COSMOS promotional event at 1 Altitude. I thought the same, too. No wonder she looked familiar. Hahaha. I forgot what her name was but later found out from Dave and Ava that she's called Feng Ling. We have only met once for the Cosmos event about a year back and I have never seen her since, until this morning.

What a small world.