Night 1: GIANT, Sri Kluang

GIANT Hypermarket, 3 Apr 2009 – At 6.30pm, the weather was cool and cloudy due to the afternoon heavy downpour. With the astronomy enthusiasm burining in our hearts, we insisted on setting up the telescopes. Just after 20 minutes, the wanning-gibbous-moon light pierced through the cloud. A good sign, indeed.

From left to right: Meade 8-inch-LX90, Celestron Celestar 8 and Orion Skyquest XT8i

The weather was getting better and better. The cloud was cleared and the transparency improved as well. Sirius was once again the brightest star on the sky. Thanks to the cooperating weather, we observed the Moon, Saturn, Great Orion Nebula (M42), The Seven Sisters aka Pleiades (M45) and plenty of star clusters such as the Jewel Box. Moon and Saturn were the most appreciated celestial bodies as they were bright and rich in features.

Shyh Tzer was showing a curiousity driven visitor where was my 8 inch telescope pointing at.

There were three 8 inch telescopes serving the public during the night. The 8 inch LX90 and the Orion XT8i were the most popular among the three. The reason that the Celestron Celestar 8 was not well accepted was due to its eyepiece orientation and the height of the telescope. As it was on a wedge, it was pretty hard for adult to look through it. However, it was unexpectedly suitable for little kids.

We had roughly 400 visitors for the night. This sounds great to us as the figure even surpasses the last year number. Though I have to admit that there may have duplications among the numbers.

In conclusion, this was a great warm up.

*Chinese version will be published after all the reports are done. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.