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BIOGRAPHY EXPEDITIONS EVENTS ARTICLES

Celestial Portraits

This site contains a personal collection of astronomy images taken with various astronomical instrument in selected locations around the world.


"Astronomers say the universe is finite, which is a comforting thought for those people who can't remember where they leave things."—Woody Allen

"With every passing hour our solar system comes forty-three thousand miles closer to globular cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules, and still there are some misfits who continue to insist that there is no such thing as progress."—Ransom K. Ferm.

Biography


Since young, at around 11 years of age, I have adopted an avid interest in astronomy. Remembering those infant years when I first got a Toys "R" Us telescope for my 11th birthday. It looked very real, and offered a colourful universe back then. It boasted a magnification of 400 times! Beautiful! I was so excited with this newly found craze that a couple of stargazing pursuits began at a field next to my apartment almost nightly. Though it was terribly light-polluted, nothing back then could dampen my affinity for the celestial heavens. Never did one expect to see the phases of Venus in real-time and that you could actually see faint bands on Jupiter. Despite the rudimentary optics of my toy-like telescope, I've learned much from this mundane "instrument" and even got some of my childhood friends hooked into astronomy. When I was in secondary school and upon much reading from magazines like Sky & Telescope and ASTRONOMY, I decided to save (from my daily allowance) up for a 'real' telescope, or more precisely, a decent refractor from Celestron. Well, after 2 years of financial perseverence and lots of skipped school recesses, my dream came true. Presently, I have a 5-inch refractor on a German Equatorial Mount (Losmandy G11), a modest collection of eyepieces and a couple of cameras for astrophotography. Together with my bunch of good 'ol astronomy buddies from all over Singapore, we would occasionally travel to Malaysia for visual observations and astrophotographic imaging.


Astrophotography

First of all, astrophotography is not just about getting state-of-the-art equipment and then get on the road to imaging. It is about patience and the willingness to rough out and experience the ups and downs of the learning journey, which is in itself the drive to keep one going in this fascinating aspect of astronomy. It is not about obtaining pretty pictures, it is more about learning to understanding your equipment better, capturing the images in challenging conditions (especially in this part of the world where the weather is the ultimate component in enabling potentially good image capture), and fine tuning one's skills in digital image processing in order to bring out the best in any given image, be it film, or digital. It is nevetheless a demanding yet extremely rewarding pursuit once you see the end result. It is demanding because to achieve excellence requires a number of factors to all be at the highest level, and rewarding for the satisfaction of having achieved success in a difficult field. It is also rewarding because a permanent record is created which can be shown to others.

There are various levels of astro-imaging. The entry level into this pursuit need not be high if one is happy to photograph the Moon, Sun and the brightest planets. Such objects should not be decried as there are some renowned amateur astrophotographers who photograph little else, even travelling to another continent to seek excellent seeing for taking these astrophotographs! The other end of the spectrum involves taking high resolution deep sky images using CCDs and DSLRs, with several issues to take care of (and learn!). Through this website, the author hopes to showcase a collection of images taken through the different imaging mediums, together with some details of the image capture process.


The Author

With the advent of technology, astrophotography has risen to a whole new level, with the ability to capture high resolution images with modest amateur instruments, avoiding the need to invest heavily.

Since 1990, the author has taken an avid interest in the various fields of astronomical imaging, ranging from emulsion-based (film), CMOS, to CCD deep sky imaging, with the data acquisition of information including the wide-field panoramic expanse of the Milky Way to narrow-field record of galaxies and planetary nebulae. He has also taken a keen interest in the areas of planetary and solar system high-resolution imaging (from sunspots to assembling of lunar mosaics covering detailed lunar topographical surfaces), resulting in image publications in internationally renowned astronomy magazines like Astronomy.


INVITED TALKS OR COLLOQUIA TO SCIENTIFIC OR GENERAL AUDIENCES

1) Auckland, New Zealand (2001), Astronomy in Singapore, invited talk presented to the members of Auckland Astronomical Society, November, 2001.

2) Boon Lay, Singapore (2002), Urban Astronomy, invited talk presented to the members of Nanyang Technological University Astronomical Society, Nanyang Technological University, May, 2002.

3) Kent Ridge, Singapore (2002), Astronomy Adventures!, invited lecture in the Singapore Learning Festival 2002 lecture series (featured in Straits Times), National University of Singapore, November, 2002.

4) Sentosa, Singapore (2003), Introductory Astronomy, invited talk presented to the public, Sentosa Corporation, April, 2003.

5) Grand Canyon, USA (2003), Astronomy from Equatorial Latitudes, invited talk presented at the Grand Canyon Star Party, Tucson Astronomy Group, June, 2003.

6) Buona Vista, Singapore (2003), Mars, invited lecture, Raffles Junior College Astronomical Society, August, 2003.

7) Jurong East, Singapore (2004), Practical Astronomy, invited talk presented to students at the Singapore Science Centre, Singapore Science Centre, July, 2004.

8) Dover, Singapore (2004), Drake's Equation: The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Beings, invited public lecture, Singapore Polytechnic, October, 2004.

9) Dover, Singapore (2004), Astrophotography: Nuts and Bolts, Singastro Astronomical Seminar 2004, Singapore Polytechnic, December, 2004.

10) Desaru, Peninsula Malaysia (2005), Astrophotography: Digital Imaging, Nanyang Polytechnic Annual Astronomy Convention, May, 2005.

11) Desaru, Peninsula Malaysia (2006), Astrophotography: CCD Imaging, Nanyang Polytechnic Annual Astronomy Convention, June, 2006.

12) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (2007), Astronomy Scene in Singapore & Malaysia, Lostock Ice-In-Space Star Party, January, 2007.

13) Raffles Junior College, Singapore (2008), Robotic Observatories, Astrigue Challenge 2008, March, 2008.

14) Victoria, Australia (2008), Engaging in Astronomy and Astrophotography in Singapore, invited talk presented at the Snake Valley Star Party, November, 2008.

EXPEDITIONS

Highlights of the author's expedition involvement and pursuits include the investigation of solar radius variations behavior during the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) annular solar eclipse expedition (NASA) in Eastern Peninsula Malaysia together with a crew headed by occultation specialist, Richard Nugent (1999).

Another significant on-site expedition includes the total solar eclipse expedition organized by the author to the desert grounds of Roxby Downs, Southern Australia (2002) for astronomical imaging of the eclipse progression. Other expeditions include trips to various locations in Peninsula Malaysia, Thailand, United States of America, and New Zealand for purposes of astronomical outreach, digital and emulsion imaging, meteor showers and planetary observations.

OUTREACH

The author has been in numerous astronomical key involvements in Singapore and Malaysia, from the organization of public events like Mars Watch 2003, to lecturing assistance in the Ministry of Manpower educational projects like the Singapore Learning Festival 2002, and many other such events. He has also taken the initiative to start the first-ever astronomical internet forum (1999) for the Singapore amateur astronomical community, Singastro, with a subscribed community of over 600 today.