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UP Astrosoc holds Applicant's Orientation During Geminids Meteor Shower
Last December 14, 2006 from 6.00 pm to 12MN, UP Astrosoc's Resource Cluster held the orientation for the incoming applicants for the second semester. It was held at the PAGASA Astronomical Observatory Sundeck during the height of the 2006 Geminids Meteor Shower.
The Resource Cluster and ObSin Cluster made the decision to hold the orientation during the meteor shower to give the potential applicants a taste of the UP Astrosoc life. Around 40 meteors were seen during the 6 hour observation period.
Besides hosting the meteor show, UP Astrosoc members also taught the applicants basic stargazing techniques, teaching them the locations of constellations and named stars. The applicants were also given a taste of binocular astronomy as UP Astrosoc members showed them visible M objects such as M42 and M31 using the org's 7x50 binoculars.
Aside from applicants, UP Astrosoc also entertained several non UP students who came to PAGASA on news of the meteor shower. These included people from grade one student of UPIS all the way to a high school english teacher.
On the net: IMO Geminids 2006 page
Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson donate Skywatch 2007 to UP Astrosoc
From Left to Right: UP Astrosoc Members Carmencita Lumban, Paulo Adaoag, April Muyuela and Chien Palafox and Sky and Telescope Editors Imelda Joson and Edwin Aguirre.
Sky and Telescope Editor Edwin Aguirre and former Sky and Telescope Photo Editor Imelda Joson donated autographed copies of Skywatch 2007 and Sky and Telescope December 2006 to UP Astrosoc. This was after their lecture last November 19, 2006 at the Manila Planetarium which was hosted by the Astronomical League of the Philippines.
Imelda Joson gave an overview on the history of astronomical imaging from daguerrotypes to CCD technology. Edwin Aguirre then gave an insight about working for an astronomy magazine with his talk entitled "Behind the Scenes at Sky and Telescope". Various people attended the event from astronomy enthusiasts to PAGASA officials.
Links: Edwin Aguirre on SkyTonight, Imelda Joson on Meade 4M, Astronomical League of the Philippines
UP Astrosoc Conducts Early Morning Observation of the 2006 Mercury Transit
Tiny Mercury crosses the sun's disk in this projected view. Sunspot 923 is also visible. On the right is a picture of the setup used with UP NISMED's 8inch refractor.
Early on the morning of November 9, UP Astrosoc members trooped to UP NISMED for an observation of the Mercury Transit. Since the third and fourth contacts occur at 8:08 and 8:10 AM Manila time respectively, UP Astrosoc members had to be rapid in their preparation and observation as there was only a limited time to observe the transit. Sir Jun Obille of UP NISMED's Earth Science department was on hand to assist the UP Astrosoc members.
The organization used UP NISMED's 8 inch refracting telescope mounted on their rooftop dome observatory. Since neither UP Astrosoc nor UP NISMED had any appropriate filters for a telescope of that size, projection onto a screeen was used as the method for viewing the transit. This method was successful in showing Mercury crossing the sun's disk as well as the prominent sunspot 923.
The activity was attended by UP Astrosoc Over-All Coordinator Anthony Urbano, Observation and Instrumentation Head Paulo Adaoag, Genevieve Landong, and Carmencita Lumban.
Links:UP NISMED
