The peak for this year's Perseids is @ 8.00 am tomorrow (August 13) morning. Last year it peaked @ 4.00am for us.

Ref: http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/august_radiants.html

I hope these guys know what they are talking about.

Anyway, tonight is more convenient for watching, can stay up all night. Do some Moon watch as well.

The moon was bright and shiny with a huge moon dog at 6.00 am. Too hazy for successful meteor gazing, though. Could see Aldebaran, Rigel and Capella distinctly but nothing much else.

Tried to see Venus and Mercury 45 mins later, the sky over Kuala Lumpur (to my North East) was full of orange dust as usual.

And to think some of them may be our own countrymen.

And on another front, it looks like our Solar System is gaining another 3 planets! Now there's going to be one between Mars and Jupiter, and we also have a unique double planet (with Pluto and Charon to be reclassified from planet & moon -> planet and planet).

And with some more bodies waiting in line to be recognised.......time to start saving up for a 12 inch telescope or larger.

But poor Ganymede, even though it is bigger and rounder than many `planets', will remain as a moon.

Hi, long time no see u. Last time was at SS2 McD's right? About a century ago.

My ToUcam's still working with my old adaptor. Haven't done adaptor version 2 yet since it works fine. Nothing much to shoot though. The skies have been misbehaving again.

What are the chances of having another ToUcam bulk?

But Ganymede is larger than even Mercury & some say it may be a `captured' planet, not a true Galilean satellite.

There're also rumours that under the new definition, our own moon may qualify as a planet - which means that we (Earth & Moon) will be a double planet system too. If you trace out the Moon's path, it does orbit the Sun in a wobbly way, just like the Earth also wobbles around the Sun due to the Moon's proximity. So who's orbiting who?

But I like the idea of Xena being made one of the planets........... She can fight with Mars everyday like in the TV series!

BTW I just got a 404 at your blog. Are you updating it?

Personally, I think if they keep messing around with the definitions, we could end up with hundreds of objects suddenly becoming planets.

My favourite position is that we have Eight planets, and Pluto is just another KBO (Kuiper Belt Object) like Xena. That way, the planets are an exclusive club of eight and should remain so for quite some time. But obviously this will not please some of our religious* brothers........there are a lot of social implications in the definitions that many people are not aware of.

*edited due to sensitive matters lah.

This post has been edited by March05: Aug 20 2006, 08:53 PM

Our Physics books will have to be revised and reprinted (I can imagine the printers rubbing their hands in glee at the new business!)

And the astrologers now will have to take the new planets into account with their predictions.........but how come they couldn't predict this?

Surprise, surprise, the IAU has read my mind!

We now have officially Eight Planets, and Pluto is out. So much easier to remember the list of planets in our Solar System now.

Unfortunately, I don't qualify for the Mickey Mouse club anymore.

8 is easier to rember than 9, and certainly a lot easier than 12, not to mention trying to keep track of the order of the planets. Is it Neptune before Pluto, or the other way round?

Don't tell me you've got that email too.

ya, tonight about a zillion people will be straining their necks looking for the BIG red planet........and you are just in time!
What happened to your SNP?

julchin_09, tomorrow you can ask your friend innocently if he missed his beauty sleep.

RM800!
Has version 6 got the revised planetology? If not, its money down the drain.......

RM300 is way too low for a true astronomical telescope, blueye. At the minimum, if you want to do basic visual observation (forget about astrophotography at this entry level) be prepared to spend RM1,500++ for one with at least a motor drive for sidereal tracking (to compensate for the earth's rotation).

Get something less than that, I guarantee you, you will lose interest in astronomy out of sheer frustration in no time.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a reasonable second hand telescope (except from a friend) because most people will only sell off a used telescope if it is an under performer.

I don't wish to discourage you, but you are only wasting your money if you invest in equipment at too low an entry point. Upgrading a telescope usually means buying a new one with larger aperture and sturdier mount - you will be replacing almost all your initial investment.

There are other ways to start astronomy as a hobby cheaply. Get a good pair of binoculars, join a club etc.

How about getting some friends together and share the costs? You can hold star parties the whole year round!

BTW, don't forget to shoot this Friday morning's Partial Lunar Eclipse! Can use almost any camera for this event.

For Petaling Jaya, the moon should be entering the penumbra at ~12:46 am on 8th September, and the first contact with the umbra at 2:12 am.
Peak is somewhere about 2:56 am, then it's out of the umbra at 3:30am and the eclipse is over at 4:57 am. Shouldn't be much different for Kluang. (Disclaimer: the mentioned times maybe off by a few minutes, too lazy to confirm)

Maybe you can use a neutral density filter, but easier to just reduce the aperture or exposure time.

Let's try to do a sequence from start to finish, like what wKkaY did during the last eclipse in Australia.....

Try for 7x magnification with aperture of at least 50mm. The bigger the aperture, the more details you can see. Mr.LKM is using a pair of Giant 9x63mm binos....

With the binoculars mounted on a camera tripod, you can easily observe the moons of Jupiter!

You can probably get a pair of cheap 7x50mm binos for between RM200-300. Of course, high quality ones may cost a few thousand ringgit - even more than a telescope because binoculars are actually a matched pair of small telecopes.

You only need a simple adapter to mount the binoculars on a normal camera tripod.

GMT+8, no daylight savings for Malaysia.

If you don't compare with really good binos, they're perfectly okay.

Can buy from photoshops, supermarket, pasar malam ( ), or specialist shops ( ).

First number usually refers to the magnification - ie 7x50 means 7x magnification, second set of numbers is the aperture: in this case, 50mm diameter.

2.5*24-60 is i don't know what.

Try not to go for zoom binoculars unless you find the quality okay to your eyes. Most zoom binoculars are too light limited and poor in viewing angle.

Info from NASA on the Partial Lunar Eclipse:

September 7th 2006

Penumbral Contact: 16:42:23 UT
Umbral Contact: 18:05:03 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 18:51:21.1 UT
Umbral Exit: 19:37:41 UT
End of Eclipse: 21:00:21 UT

All times add 8 hours for local (Malaysian time)
which means Greatest eclipse is at 2:51:21.1am September 8th in Malaysia.
I estimated at 2:56 am, get a `F' for my Maths. (March05, go join Mr.LKM in the classroom corner, and don't forget to put on your dunce cap. )


blueye: Try the nearest Fotodata shop.

If you buy from proper retailer you should be able to get a case and the warranty to go with the binos. If you're very charming, you can get cheaper lah.
100 meters only? Very bad binoculars. Mine can see the moons of Jupiter. About 870 million kilometers away from Earth now.

Note: with telescopes and binoculars, we don't specify how far you can see. Most important is how clearly we can see.
Yah, there are many types of binoculars. For this 7x50mm, ask for BAK-4 (high quality glass), Porro Prism type.

Happy shopping!