Archive for the 'Eclipse' Category

350人同欢共睹“大年初一日偏食”

Solar Eclipse Sequence Photo

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.

The sunglasses, cool huh?
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.

3 MusketeersLeft to right: *censored*, Kang Xuan and Shyh Tzer

This time, I was not alone. Well, there are members along with me everytime. :P 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?

Thumbs UpGreat! Thumbs up!

农历新年之天狗食日——日偏食

hartwig luethen1 01aug08 280x190 农历新年之天狗食日——日偏食

日环食:Hartwig Luenthen拍摄于2008年8月1日

2009年1月26日正式咱们华人庆祝新春佳节的好时候。今年,上天在农历初一“赐”给了在马来西亚的我们难得一见的日食(日偏食)。为什么说是“赐”呢?换做是在几百年前,日食也就是“天狗食日”可是大大的忌讳。现今可不再是这个样子了,大家的科学知识已经大为提高。日食这种天文奇观可还真是上天的恩赐啊!

让我们直接进入主题吧。到 NASA website 并点击你的所在地。你会得到精确日食发生、到达高潮及结束的时间。这里有一个由马来西亚国家天文台刘小姐及其他干部所制作的《日食观测小册子》。里面有丰富的资讯如太阳被覆盖的巴仙率、观测须知、太阳望远镜制作介绍等等。

请确保您在观测太阳的时候使用太阳滤镜!直视太阳对眼睛所造成的烧伤是无可挽回的!

祝各位牛年牛气!新年快乐、万事如意!

要是我去美国读书的话,这很可能是我最后一年在马来西亚过春节,下一次或许是四年后吧!

零八年八月一日之日食

对不起,此内容只适用于English

月全食:20日至21日2月2008年

4 March 2007 Lunar Eclipse By Robin Lee
Sequence photo I made for the 4 March 2007 total lunar eclipse

The lunar eclipse starts at 0100 until 0152 UT on 21 Feb 2008 (2200 EST or 1900 PST on 20 Feb 2008). The totality will last for 52 minutes. We’ll have partial lunar eclipse this coming 16 August and 31 December 2009. Americans will have a total eclipse again on 20-21 December 2010. Yet to check for us.

*Americans have 3 total eclipses in less than a year and we had 2 as we’re not favoured this time.

Continue reading ‘月全食:20日至21日2月2008年’

Great Lunar Eclipse Observing [Updated]

Lunar Eclipse 4 March 2007 UT8 By Robin Lee

I took the photos since the Moon entered penumbra and umbra to nearly total lunar eclipse. The atmospheric condition was not good this morning as the Moon was setting. In other words, the Moon was near the horizon.

To ease your hunger a little, I post a full Moon photo first. :) The lunar eclipse sequence is expected to be released tomorrow. Hope so…

Finally the photo is up. I didn’t photo the full lunar eclipse as I was just too sleepy to continue. I don’t want to fall on the road. :D If you want to take the photo of the red hue Moon during the total eclipse, you have to expose the photo for seconds.

Full Moon on 4 March 2007 (Unprocessed)

Prepare for 2007 Total Lunar Eclipse

It’s going to happen on 2016UT 3 March 2007. The great Total Lunar Eclipse! Yes, I have the luck this time but the sky now is so heavily covered by clouds. :(

At 2016UT, it is entering penumbra. At this time, it’s not observable yet. At 2130UT, the partial lunar eclipse begins and it’s entering umbra. At 2244UT, the Total Lunar Eclipse begins! The mid-eclipse happens at 2321UT, it must be the climax of this event. The total lunar eclipse ends at 2358UT and the partial eclipse ends at 0112UT, entirely out of penumbra.

Ok, so what do you need for this event? Naked eye is more than enough. If you have a long focal length lens that can be mounted on a DSLR or a camera with high optical zoom (Don’t use digital zoom please.) or even a planetary CMOS camera capable mounting onto the back cell of your telescope doing prime focus astrophotography, they will help you a lot to extend the memory of the event later.

Where is the skymap as usual? No, no skymap this time. Just find the Moon. I am going to take the sequence photo this time. I failed to do so last time. I’ll test my equipments later.

For the defination of penumbra and umbra, please look at Umbra & Penumbra