I do regular (not so regular these days... sigh) excursions to peer into the nightsky from various locations, the further away from big cities the better.
I use a Schmidt-Newtonian 8 inch telescope: MEADE LDX55 SN-8 with AutoStar and the following lenses, Vixen 2.5mm & MEADE Plossi 6.4mm, 9.7mm, 12.4mm, 15mm, 20mm, 26mm, 30mm, 40mm & Barlow 2X
Anyone interesting in joining my excursions are most welcome. Bring your own sleeping bag and expect to drink lots of coffee... but the wait is well worth it once you see the milkyway unobscured by bright lights in all it's glory! People I know who've been there and seen the milkyway, all get Mersing-withdrawal right after a trip.
Latitude 103° 47' 05E Longitude 2° 35' 50N
Tanjung Resang, Mersing
Johor, Malaysia
Driving directions -
From Mersing central roundabout -> Drive Northward 16km (towards Kuantan) -> Exit Turn-off, Right turn to Tanjung Resang -> Drive Eastward 7.1km (towards beach) -> X-junction, Left turn onto coastal road -> Drive Northward 3.8km -> Off road between telephone poles nos. 29 & 30, Left turn off the road onto the grassy field Eastward 200 metres seaward to the clearing
30/08/03 - 31/08/03
- First trip out. Caught a ride with Matthew and didn't bring my scope. Coast road was nothing but a bumpy dirt road. Got bitten by the Mersing-bug and been infected ever since.
01/01/04 - 02/01/04
- Quick driving recon of the site in the afternoon to late evening with sis to check my "koyak GPRS" navigation, recon the site in daylight and to test my scope.
22/05/04 - 23/05/04
- Good sizeable group. Minor problem finding the site due to road upgrading works. Was there with sis but spent most of the night checking out other people's scopes. Spent more time oohing and ahhing then playing with my own scope.
07/0505 - 08/05/05
- Went with RT, Devi, Marie, Sis & baobei in 2 cars. Arrived late but thankfully I found the site despite the on-going roadworks. Best skies I've ever seen. Did too much snacking and drinking coffee with the girls.
17/03/07 - 18/03/07
- Ah Yan joined baobei and I this trip. All roadworks completed making for my easiest access ever. Found the site with little problems. Largest group I've seen to date with at least 12 scopes and 20+ people.
17/03/07 - Mersing Excursion
ReplyDeleteWe were late leaving Singapore, reaching the Singapore-side checkpoint just after 4pm. The jam at the customs on the Singapore side was so bad that cars were backed up through the immigration counters and couldn't move even after having the passports stamped. After an hour and a half, we were finally through to the Malaysian side. A quick conspiratory chuckle with the Malaysian customs officer about needing to "kaji bintang" at Mersing and how bad Singapore skies were and we were on our way!
We reached Mersing just past 8pm and headed straight for my regular seafood restaurant. After a very satisfying dinner of steamed fish, "spare-rib king", stirfried veg., and squid stuffed with salted egg (yum yum!), we vamooshed over in pitched dark to the site 16km or so to the north.
Largest group in attendence so far. At Mersing I counted at least 8 cars and 12 telescopes ranging in sizes from 4 inch refractors to 8 inch reflectors all parked and arrayed in an arc just 30m from the beach. Can't say for sure who actually came since most people were just darker blotches in a dark landscape even when seen up close but I think there were 20+ people in total.
The sky was a little disappointing as there was a light covering of thin clouds which obscured parts of the sky and made the stars a little blurry. I suspect the viewing conditions at the site have deteriorated somewhat over the last 2 years since I was last there in early 2005. The skies were not as clear as I remembered it to be but that again could have been the diffusion caused by the thin cloud cover. There was however, a perceptible glow of light pollution to the northwest, adding to the expected minor light pollution from Mersing in the south. In combination, it made for a very disturbing trend. I think the site has racked upwards a notch from a Category 1 to a Category 2 darksky. One could make out minor details on a person standing next to you. THAT... isn't good news at all.
The best views were to the south from about 11pm till about 2am where the tentrils of the milky way could be seen. We plonked down onto our lawnchairs and whilst I fiddled with my telescope setup, there were soft murmurs of oohs and aahs from the new initiates. I managed to get my telescope aligned and was pretty glad to see that my autostar eventually worked after an initial problem with the tracking. Got some good views of M104 Sombrero Galaxy and a few other DSOs before the sky took a turn for the worse. Around 2am a thick cloud cover moved in from the north and made the skies no better than Singapore skies. Flashes of lightning far to the north prompted some to pack up and go, leaving at 3am to Singapore while the rest of us hunkered down for the night in tents.
By the morning, only 4 cars and 4 tents remained. We slipped away at about 7am in the morning, tummies growling. After a quick wash up at a hotel in Mersing, we had a very good breakfast of Roti Chanai and teh tarik before heading back to Singapore. The drive back was quick, a mere one and a half hours to Johor Bahru and the usual litany of questions by customs officers who seem to think any big round cylinder MUST be a weapon of sorts. We got home in time for lunch, very tired and very sleepy but rather happy to have once again caught a glimpse of the wonders just above our heads, the beauty of the universe in it starry splendour.
oi, when are you going to invite us along?
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about?!!!?! I invited everyone here for lastweek's trip but only Ur and Ah Yan responded!
ReplyDeleteIf I wasn't inviting you guys, I post here for WHAT!?
ah... dear me... really ah? Umm, ummm, ummm (blushing in shame). Next time... write in Bold and Red, I promise to make time, just that I don't have a car...ok?
ReplyDeletesigh. What do you need, a printed invitation card? Next time you see something posted, mersing trip-lah, house party-lah, makan session-lah, just invite yourself lah. If I had to extend invitations to people all the time I'll be too busy to get anything done for myself.
ReplyDeleteaiyah, my little bro getting tired of Da jie, tsk tsk tsk... ok lah, I will keep my eyes peeled for all the up coming events. Sorli, Sorli, little brother.
ReplyDeletekekeke, no lah not tired lah. Anyways, that goes for everyone else here. Please invite yourself. You people please consider this an open standing invitation to whatever I post here on multiply.
ReplyDeleteWow.....interesting......
ReplyDeletekekeke. There's another group going up in September but I won't be going. Busy. But too bad really because I like the September sky the best.
ReplyDeleteWhy September? Less cloudy or what?
ReplyDeleteDry season...... :P
ReplyDeleteJust posted a great photo taken by Chuang Yee of the sky view from Mersing. The area in the photo is the sky just above the "teapot", showing the milkyway glow. This is pretty much what you'll see on the best of nights at Mersing. He's edited the picture to put in some visual references on what DSOs you can see in just this small area. The picture should cover an arc of about 5-10 degrees.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is what I call cool looking...
ReplyDeletelol. Yeah, I was trying very hard for awhile now to find you guys a "real" photo of what you can expect to see at Mersing. Have actually been rather frustrated because mere posted words here on multiply just can't describe the experience of actually seeing this kind of sky. My own attempts at photographing this sky to share with all of you have been just crap.
ReplyDeleteFinally I got a copy of Chuang Yee's photo which is exactly how the sky looks like on a good night.
Now you know why I get Mersing-withdrawal and why baobei just stares at the sky for hours whenever she is there....
Now that you've seen this picture..... look out your window tonight at the beautiful urbanised Singapore sky.....
sigh!, I know, I know... let me know when you are planning a trip up, as long as it is the weekend, and I am back in time for work the next day. I should be able to make it. :)
ReplyDeleteJust think. That kind of sky, is just above your heads... sadly you just can't see it... or probably never even knew it existed.
ReplyDelete"Down with the Orange-y Sky! Clear Skies!"
- AB the activist
Centaur turns around and gallops away, after all, you never know how long the activist would take to get things going.... sigh!
ReplyDelete"Down with streetlights! May their wires always cross and their circuits always melt!"
ReplyDelete- chanting from the AB inspired telescope wielding mob
wow.....
ReplyDeleteClose your mouth dear.
ReplyDeleteWide-eyed-opened-mouthed expressions are the purview of Bimbos, not intelligent Frenchmaids such as yourself.
"Clear Skies!"
Opps.....thanks sis ;>
ReplyDeleteAwwww..... she called me sis.... I feel so loved..... muaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
ReplyDelete*wipes tear with hanky
hey hey....your mascara's smirched....
ReplyDeleteNo lah. You're mixing me up with Koi Hin. He's the one with mascara. My eyes so beautiful, I don't need mascara.
ReplyDeletekekeke....
ReplyDelete