February 7, 2010 ALP Monthly Meeting  Report
by James Kevin Ty
 

Last February 7, 2010, members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) held their monthly meeting at the Manila Planetarium at 3:00pm.  Members who attended were ALP President James Kevin Ty , Charito Ty & son Kendrick Cole (KC) Ty , Vincent Lao, Tommy Tan, Peter Benedict Tubalinal, Ma. Belen Pabunan ; Desiree del Rosario, Dennis Buenviaje, Andrew Ian Chan, Jennifer Sy and son Tyler Sy, Romel Palacpac, Dante Cruz, Mark Ian Singson, Christopher Lee , Kevin Dagunan, Crispin Riosa, Michael Cruspero, Rosemarie Balatbat, Mark Joven Cortel and newest ALPer Pejvak Parhizkari.

James setup 2 telescopes for solar observation that afternoon with the Meade ETX-90AT set for white light observation while the Coronado PST-Ha was set for Hydrogen-Alpha observation. There was a large sunspot group named AR 11045 while was observed by the members as well as a large eruptive prominence . James also show the members 2 images that he took of the Sun that morning so that they can compare with what they saw in real time.

ALPers lined up to get a chance to view the Sun in White Light and Hydrogen Alpha view.	ALPers  (L) Rosemarie Balatbat and Jennifer Sy (R) looked through the 2 telescopes brought by James to let the members view the Sun safely.
Newest ALPer Pejvak Parhizkari look at the Sun safely through a solar filter equipped Meade ETX-90AT.	This is how the Sun looks like through the ETX-90AT
Close Up view of the AR 11045 Sunspot Group	This is the H-Alpha view of the Sun through the Coronado PST.

The meeting started at around 3:45pm with ALP President James Kevin Ty and ALP NAW 2010 Chairman Peter Benedict Tubalinal discussing the National Astronomy Week preparations a the 2nd Philippine Astronomy Convention which will be held at Manila Planetarium.  2 public stargazing sessions will also be held that week on February 14 and 20, 2010 at Rajah Sulayman Park in Baywalk (in front of Aristocrat Restaurant facing the seawall side) wherein ALPers will setup telescopes for the public to get a chance to view the planets, Moon , bright deep sky objects free of charge.  Stargazing session will start at 6:00pm till around 9:30pm.

As for the Philippine Astronomy Convention, tentative schedule of lecturers and their topics are as follows:

* The Universe On A Desktop by Thijs  Kouwenhoven , PHD

* How To Apply HDR and Time Lapse Technique in Astrophotography by Babak Parhizkari , ALP

* Chandra View Of The Hot Gas In The Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044 by Jelly Grace Nonesa , PHD

* Operational Research Preview  On Operating A Commercial Astronomical Observatory In The Philippines by Armando Lee, ALP

* Observing Shooting Stars by Peter Benedict Tubalinal , ALP

Another lecture topic waiting for confirmation is the EQMOD Updates by Raymund Sarmeinto, ALP

For the above activities during the NAW, ALP President James Kevin Ty encourage ALPers to volunteer and help out in the 2 stargazing sessions as well as Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC).  Lastly, ALPer Dante Cruz give away free handy planner to those who attended the meeting.  Thanks Dante!

The meeting ended at around 5:30pm.