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“At the end of this talk, you won’t know anything new than you knew in the beginning” Dr Paul Francis said. “Greatest Unsolved Mysteries of The Universe” is the title of his first public lecture in 2010. I hope you will enjoy this.
This public lecture was co-organized by ANU Black Hole Society and Australian Institute of Physics. The video is provided by Australian National University Channel at YouTube.
A kid was looking at the Great Orion Nebula
Kluang Mall, 4 April 2009 – First, I would like to express my appreciation towards the Kluang Mall management as they were kind to provide us a space at the main entrance for free. They also arrange security guards to standby and make sure the vehicles never run into us.
The weather was mediocre when we setup the telescope on 7pm. Bright astronomical objects like Moon, Sirius and Canopus were visible but others were not without optical aid. It was getting worse as the time passed through. Moon was blocked by the shopping mall, Sirius and Canopus were partially blocked by the cloud and Great Orion Nebula was getting dimmer and dimmer.
Papa, please put away your hand
There was a huge crowd but the weather did not cooperate. Many of them were dissapointed. Even though we had 514 people looked through the scope, we were not convinced that we did a great job. If there is any such situation in the future, I think we should cut the event or run the backup plan since our motivation is to let them enjoy the beauty of the night sky.
Well, let’s look at the pictures.
Lots of kids around.
“Do I look more pretty than the stars?” The girl asked.
From right to left: Robin, Kang Dan, Shyh Tzer and bbo.
Last but not least, I am so grateful that these guys work with me on such meaningful events. Thank you all!
My dearest CHHS Astronomy Club members who attended the Kluang Mall Star Party
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.
In celebration of International Year of Astronomy 2009, we, the Kluang amateur astronomers have gathered to organise one of the greatest star party in the name of 100 Hours of Astronomy during the first weekend of April.
Below is the venue and the date. All the starparties start from 8.00pm and end on 10.30pm.
What are we going to observe? The famous ring planet – Saturn, Great Orion Nebula where the new stars are born, the seven sisters – Pleaides, the brightest star – Sirius, our Earth very best friend – the Moon and more!
The telescopes serving your eyeballs during this weekend are 8″ Meade LX90, Orion SkyQuest XT8i, Celestron Celestar 8 and a few little refractors. Join us tonight and make it a memorable night!
Click to enlarge
27 Jan 2009 – We reached another 350 people this time. 350 people, actually more than that, joined us for the partial solar eclipse observing event at Kluang Mall, Kluang, Johor, Malaysia.
The partial solar eclipse started at 16:30:55 and ended on 18:58:21 on 26 Jan 2009. I arrived at the mall around 16:10 and when I had the LX90 ready for observing the sun, the elicpse had already begun. However, I was so thrilled as this was the first time I gazed at the “eaten sun”. At the mean time, Shyh Tzer was setting up his photography equipment. Homemade solar filter (floppy disk) attached on the front of the digital camera was used to snap the great moment.
Front: Cool DIY sunglasses!
Back: The guy in the back is Rui-Yi. He counted the number of visitors
Shyh Tzer also brought along 8 sunglasses made with the floppy disk for the participants. Frankly speaking, looking via the sunglasses and my LX90 were equally fun. Though, a Lunt Solar telescope would double the joy we all had.
Left to right: *censored*, Kang Xuan and Shyh Tzer
This time, I was not alone. Well, there are members along with me everytime. 
Shyh Tzer, Kang Xuan (red), Rui-Yi and I handled the event this time. There could be more but most of the members are enjoying themselves with relatives and friends as 26 Jan 2009 was the first day of Chinese New Year.
Few hours before the event, I was actually struggling whether to hold this event or not. It was so rare to have all the relatives gathered at grandfather’s house. Fortunately, I took the right action and went straight to hold this event. What I had at the site was much more than what I could gain. It’s wonderful to share the joy with people rather than keep the joy myself. One’s happiness and 350 happiness, which one would you pick?
Great! Thumbs up!
I participated in MICSS (Malaysia Independent Chinese School ??) Science Camp held at Hin Hua High School, Klang, Selangor, Malaysia during 30 May to 3 June. I had a great time there.
The theme of this science camp was Space Science, my favourite. There were 3 talks by world-class professors. The Look of Universe Under Multi-Wavelength Observation by Prof. Wei-Hsin Sun, Near Earth Asteroid Observations by Zhu Jin, curator of Beijing Planetarium and High Altitude Atmosphere Lighting Phenomena – Sprites, Blue Jets and Gigantic Jets by Prof. Hsu, Rue-Ron.
I like Prof. Wei-Hsin Sun the most. I totally admire his speech skill. Almost everybody was excited during his talk. The most valuable lesson that he taught me was not about the science but the attitude towards life. Listen more instead of talking more, once you know more, you will talk less as you know that the knowledge you hold is just a fraction.
I also met a professor from USM. Dr.Chong is a very funny person, he has high spirits in sharing his knowledge. It’s really my pleasure to know him. He taught me water-rocket which was one of my happiest moments. His record is 150m high and 180m long. I also know a high school teacher from Zhe Jiang, China. She is Lin Lan. She knows a lot of the equipment.
There was a sunspot observing activity and stargazing party on the third day and fourth day. I saw the most telescopes in my life that day. Colorado Solarmax by National Planetarium, CGE-1400, 6″ Refractor by Mr.Tan, Uncle Looi’s PST and Meade MySky, Mr Kew’s 10″ Meade LX200GPS, WO Megrez 90, 8″ LX200 Classic by USM Dr.Chong, Hin Hua Astronomy Club’s VC200L and … (let me recall..)
Photos will be uploaded soon. It’s been a long time since my last post. I’m getting lazy and in low spirits. I lost almost 90% of my spirit in a girl.
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