Together with members of The Astronomical Society of Singapore (TASOS), the group of about 40 camped out at the southern point of Pulau Semakau on Saturday night to marvel at our celestial wonders.
Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy most of the night and many participants decided to retire early. But for the few of us who persisted, we were rewarded with a wonderful display from the heavens as the sky began clearing intermittently from 3am.
We were treated to a glittering display of twinkling stars as constellations such as Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Southern Cross (Crux) stood out against the dark sky. We even caught a faint glimpse of the Milky Way! This was really an eye-opener as I never thought we will be able to see our own galaxy in light-polluted Singapore.
Other wondrous sights of the night include the open star clusters of M6, M7 and the Jewel Box (NGC 4755), globular star cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), planetary nebula M57 (aka Ring Nebula), double star Albireo, Mars, Saturn, and 4 meteors!
Here are some photos of the night to share... =)
TASOS members sharing their knowledge of the night sky with participants...
Can you spot the constellations in the sky?
They are (from left to right): Lupus the wolf, Centaurus the Centaur, and Crux the Southern Cross. In the centre of Centaurus is Omega Centauri, the brightest and largest globular cluster in our Milky Way. It looks like a fuzzy cotton ball through the telescope. =)
A plane flew past as I was capturing this 30 sec exposure of the southern sky...
The southern sky is my favourite part of the sky as the area is rich with bright stars and deep sky objects. Can you spot Crux (aka Southern Cross) in the photo above?
Unlike the northern sky which has Polaris (the North Star) to indicate north, there are no bright stars in the southern sky to mark the South Celestial Pole. To find south, extend a line from Gacrux (the topmost star of Crux) to Acrux (the bottom-most star of Crux). [Note: We are unable to see Polaris in Singapore as the star hovers just 1 degree above the horizon in our equatorial latitude.]
Can you identify what constellation this is?
It's Scorpius the scorpion. Don't you think the star pattern really do look like a scorpion? The beautiful open cluster M7 can be seen right next to the scorpion's sting. 
Here's another shot of Scorpius' tail and M7 above a tree...
What about this constellation? Can you spot the star pattern?
It's Sagittarius the archer and its famous Teapot asterism. An asterism is a pattern of stars seen in the sky which is not an official constellation. If you look closely, the Teapot asterism even has a cloud of "steam" coming out from its spout! This cloud is actually a rich area of the Milky Way. Also seen in this photo are the open clusters M6 and M7, and the Lagoon Nebula, M8. 
The Scorpius-Sagittarius region of the night sky is in a rich area of the Milky Way. Can you spot Scorpius in the photo above?
Scorpius, with its tail in the Milky Way. Notice the band of "clouds" in the scorpion's tail? This band of clouds is actually the Milky Way!
Can you see the Milky Way? Its brightest part is to the middle-left of this photo!
and here's another shot of the Milky Way - seen as the white "cloud" and dark patches in the middle of this photo. Stunning, isn't it? 
All too soon, the sky grew light and it was time to call it a day (or more accurately, night). Many thanks to the good people of TASOS for sharing with us their knowledge and love of astronomy and staying up all night to show us the wonders of the night sky. It was definitely a most rewarding and educational experience!
