Wah...Jupiter eh. Didn't know it would be that bright. Yup im looking East. Mind telling me whats an SNP ?
Hey, Can you take pics with that telescope?

Yep, Starry Night Pro is what we call a `planetarium in your pc' program. It simulates the sky (night and day) for any location on earth. Some of us in this thread think it's the coolest software of its kind available today......but then we could be a wee bit biased. 

So how was last night?

I would like to report, sirs, that the sky was excellent too, in my SNP!

Oh well, weekend's coming up. Let's hope the KL skies clear up as a personal favour to me.......I'm still green with envy.

Wouldn't that result in the picture being too bright?

Hey, aren't you supposed to be teaching me to blog? 
I think you're doing fine anyway. Just be your natural self and post your nightly observations as you see it (or don't see it).

If you put in too many articles it won't feel like a blog site anymore. Just provide a link to current news and events that have caught your eye instead of reproducing those articles in your blog. You can throw in your own original opinions and comments, of course.

Your observation notes should be on the main page (after all, your blog is called `Astronomy Notes') and other items can be kept secondary (i.e links or on next pages).

These are just my opinions. I'm quite a dull & conservative person so you understand......

Unfortunately, nothing much to report. Skies have been pretty bad.

Just something of interest, comet(s) 73P/SW has crossed the space directly between us and the sun and will now start to appear just before dawn, but the fragments are much further away compared to last month, so more difficult to observe even though they will rise earlier as time goes by.

I'm sorry to say I still cannot locate the StarHunters' business card. Can anybody else help?

I can only find the Star-finders Assosciation contact. But this is a Selangor/KL group, so may not be much help to you guys in Johore.

I wonder if she'll turn out to be like the Heroine in Carl Sagan's `Contact'?

julchin_09, I've got something that might interest you....
aka NGC2070 
More pictures and a description here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060106.html
It's a big Universe out there.

If I knew, it wouldn't be a secret, right? 

Mr.LKM, you'll have to worm it out of him. Don't show him this Nebula unless he gives you at least one fat juicy secret.

Yup. It'll be an odd club... but hopefully one that can expand..... 

Oh kewl, you getting a smithi? Yeah its good for a newbie. Come join the discussions in the Tarantula thread over at pets wonderland. You can learn a lot from the keepers there. Normally once you pop, you can't stop...

BTW I will be attending a gathering this coming Saturday in KL where all the Tarantula Keepers from LYN will be present. The gathering is at Ming Tin Foodcourt near Kelana Jaya LRT station on 10/06 at 2PM.

Is your doggie named Sirius too?   

Sirius watches over us everyday, and you don't need to feed him. 

Since the best time to shoot them would be 15th night or 16th night, there is some time to give you a crash course 

If the sky is clear after your dinner tonight say about 8.00 pm, look westwards, and then a little to your north. Scan about 30 degrees up from the horizon (that's roughly 1/6th of the sky) and see whether you can spot Saturn (it should be a slightly yellowish bright `star'). The brightest objects in this part of the sky are Sirius - Mercury - Procyon - Saturn - Pollux - Regulus - Castor - Mars in the order of brightness, Sirius being brightest.  The underlined are planets.

Generally, to differentiate between a star and a planet, I tell ppl stars twinkle, planets don't.

See whether you can id anything based on what I have said. Otherwise try to get in touch with Mr.LKM so he can point out these objects to you. It will be easier the following nights once you know what they look like to the naked eye.

I think your camera will have no problem capturing the Beehive if you use max optical zoom and open up the aperture. A short exposure of about 1/8th second will do. Just do the usually bracketing to see which setting gives you the max detail without motion blur.

I'll try with my Casio in a little while if the sky looks ok.

The sky wasn't very good this evening, but it was okay for a trial run. Couldn't catch the Beehive Cluster yet.

Here is what I managed with my Casio.

Wide angle shot of the West North Western sky. An airliner decided to join in the fun. 


Zoomed in to the two planets - this is roughly what you would see through binoculars.


This is what I hoped to see - a simulation using Starry Night Pro.


If the sky improves over the next 2 nights, I'm going to be a very happy man!
Mr.LKM, are you getting a new notebook or camera? or both?

Wah..MR.LKM got new X-BOX360 Already ar? Buy from where? Don't tell me Kluang....?

Hahah.....I hate that fella lar. Dun think I will buy from him.

I thought of either an X-BOX 360 or a PS3. What you suggest and why??
I checked the sky, There is a bit of overhanging clouds from my place.....Vaguely see the stars/planets....

The 35mm equivalent zoom range of the Casio is 38-114mm. Actual is 7.9-23.7mm. Actual exposure and focal length details are in the exif data of the posted images, just in case you want to check what settings I used.

Ya, the sky is very bad here tonight, too.

Yes, very observant of you. You've got eagle eyes! Looking at it again, I think my pic was more representative of a pair of 12x binoculars, which is not a common power. My bad.
Please move your head another foot further from your monitor or screen to see about 10x magnification. 

Yah, yah, I also see many football stars......  

You mean that was the moon up last night? I thought it was the image of the football imprinted on my retina after watching 6 hours non stop World Cup TV.