Observation Tips (Especially in Singapore)


What to bring on an overnight stay

    As you can see from the heading, observation requires a whole night to do it, so preparations must be made to ensure that you can survive through the night.

    In Singapore, warm clothing is sort of unnecessary because the night temperature is not much of a difference as compared to the daytime temperature. However, a jacket would not add much weight to your bag.

    Water is a MUST. You need some water to prevent your stomach from becoming completely empty, so that, you can trick your brain into thinking that you are not hungry.

    Food is also necessary, especially for those astrophotograhers. You need steady hands for equipped observation, thus you need food to provide the energy to do that. Biscuits will do. Bread will become soggy at night due to high humidity.

    Money, is required, for sanitary purposes. The toilets here cost money even at night.

    Star charts, of course, are needed. Bring maps up to a limiting magnitude of 5 for visual observation. For telescopic observation, maps up to magnitude 7 will do. The bad seeing conditions in Singapore allows limited observation.

    Binoculars are extremely useful, even for professionals. They can show you really the beauty of the sky. Professionals need them to locate their target before using telescopes to point at it. Bring 7x50, 7x35, 10x50, binoculars. Larger bino need a tripod. Telescopes are even better.

    To sum up, pack as little things as possible. You do not want to drag a lot of things home in your tiredness.


Where to go for a successful and fulfilling observation

    In Singapore, a highly urbanised country, it is nearly impossible to find a location for observation. Generally, available sites are those that are in the coastal regions or the undeveloped regions. I recommend three sites in different parts of Singapore.
 

    I recommend a specific, remote part of this park. This site is at Area G of the park. This site is hours of walk from the well-known Mac Donalds. Get to the Area G carpark and walk to the nearest toilet. Look seawards, on your left, you will see two platforms extending out to the sea and the platform is the recommended site. The south, which is the direction of the sea is very good. The landward side, the north, is rather bad to light scattering. At this site, the Milky Way can be seen on good nights and Venus can even cast shadows. I frequent this site due to its safeness and its availability of solid ground.
      Get to Bedok Interchange and take bus number 35 and get off the bus at this remote terminal. Walk out of the terminal, backtracing the bus route to the nearest canal. Notice the path along the canal which leads to the beach with breakwaters. Walk on this path to the beach. This long path brings you to the remote and dark beach. This site is better than the East Coast Site because of its unobstructed horizon view and relatively dimmer surroundings.
      Go to Tampiness Interchange and take bus 29. Get off the bus at the stop after the Golden Meridien Hotel. Walk seawards to the beach. This is the worst of the three but the north view is better than the East Coast Park Site.


What to look out for in the sky

    A lot of things can be observed but I will list them according to skills.

    Moon - Identify the craters, especially Tycho, Copernicus and Kepler. See the shadows of the   craters and large dark Mare or "Seas".

    Stars - Identify the outlines of the constellations

    Planets - (With telescopes) See the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. See the phases of Venus and Mercury. See the bands on Jupiter and Saturn. See the most beautiful rings of Saturn and its divisions.

    Star Clusters and Nebulae - See the beautiful M41, M44, M35, NGC 6231, 47 Tucanae, Omega Centauri, M4, M6, M7,Orion Nebula, KeyHole Nebula, Lagoon Nebula........(the list goes on)

    Galaxies - (telescope)See the large M31, the beautiful M104........................

    Special - Shooting stars or even fireballs.

Download this Word97 file to see the list of meteor showers for a year.


Tips on how to forecast the weather of Singapore

    Generally, a good day does not mean a good night. Predict the night weather only in the evening. If the whole day is clear even in the evening, then good weather may persist. If there is some rain in the day, make sure that the clouds clear after the rain and does not come back, if so, the night may be good. If it rains periodically, stay at home. If the rain is very heavy and after that the clouds clear, then an excellant night sky would most likely occur. In the evening, without rain in the day, if high clouds are seen, stay at home. If low clouds are seen, prepare to set off. Low clouds clear easily but high clouds persist.


Do you want to share with the world your experiences, mail : zonal@hotmail.com 
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