Of heavenly bodies…


One of my new friends shares my interest in amateur astronomy. I wonder if there are other star-gazers out there? I particularly look forward to hearing from those in the Southern Hemisphere as the constellations you see there are unique to your latitude and most of the literature available caters to the Northern Hemisphere.

I reproduce below part of a message I sent to Starry Dzullia as a means of sharing our interest with other star-gazers.

When I was a member of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia (ASM), I had access to the Society's 12.5-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain which, at the time, was the largest telescope in Malaysia. It was housed at a friend's quarters at the Telekom Malaysia Short-Wave Monitoring Station in Sungai Lang near Banting/Morib.

Anyway, before members of the ASM go to Sungai Lang to use the telescope, we would arrive earlier for a slap-up seafood dinner at Kanchong Laut, near Morib. So we used to joke that we would have a Gastronomical Society meeting before the Astronomical Society meeting!

At the Telekom SW Monitoring Station in Sungai Lang, which is 4,000 hectares of Short-Wave antennas, there is a big switch which you can throw and plunge the whole 4,000 hectares into complete darkness. This was ideal for star-gazing as the nearest city-light glare was from Klang, >30 km away.

We used to have our sessions on a moonless night. We were able to view the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the sword of Orion, the canalli on Mars, the Red Spot on Jupiter, and etc. On a full moon, we could see the craters on the moon vividly.

I don't have a telescope now and mostly do star-gazing, looking at constellations, of which Orion is the easiest to recognise. I also see Ursa Major very early in the morning from my location. The last time I saw it in May 2003, very low on the horizon, was from an express coach back from Johor Baru about 2 am and it is wonderful to see.

Of the planets, Mars is easily seen, as are Jupiter and Saturn.

BTW, ladies, you should always try to get a boyfriend who has an interest in astronomy ~ for who else can promise you the sun, the moon and the stars and deliver?

P.S.
I also have an interest in Amateur Radio and had the call-signs 9M2ZL and GV5LVT but it's been some years since I owned a rig. But I'll leave ham radio for another day.