Astronomy Philippine
PHILIPPINE ASTRONOMY FORUM FACEBOOK GROUP (NEW)
Welcome to Philippine Astronomy Forum! The ultimate source of information on astronomical discussions on astronomical equipment, observations, events, astrophotography, space programs, astrophysics, astro product reviews, etc. Anyone can join regardless of sex, race, astro affiliation, experience and skill level as long as topic on astronomy and its like are discussed and shared.
PHILIPPINE ASTRONOMY ASTRO BULLETIN BOARD !!!
I would like to invite all of you to join the ultimate astronomy bulletin board for all interested in astronomy and space regardless of local or international astro community, astro affiliation, race and religion. Feel free to post astro announcements, astro images, astro topic discussions on observation, imaging, astrophysics, general astronomy, etc.
IMAGES
H-ALPHA Solar IMAGES
I started doing solar Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) observing and imaging after I got to acquire a low cost Coronado PST-Ha scope. After experimenting with compact digital camera as well as Philips Toucam 740K webcam, I have decided to use monochrome webcam in which the low cost Atik 1HS II monochrome webcam was used by me afterwards. All Ha images were taken by James Kevin Ty using ATK-1 HS II webcam on Coronado Personal Solar Telescope (PST) and 2x barlow lens. Lately in November 2013, ZWO ASI120MM webcam officially replaced my trusty ATIK-1HS2 webcam. Last December 27, 2016, I upgraded my Ha Imaging system from Coronado PST-Ha to Daystar Quark Chromosphere Ha Eyepiece Filter and officially retired my trusty PST.
WHITE LIGHT Solar IMAGES
Whole disk images were taken with Canon 500D DSLR camera on TV-101 refractor with 2x Big Barlow lens and Baader 3.8 solar filter while Close Up images were taken with same camera and telescope setup but with INTES Herschel Wedge. Starting 2010, ATK-1HS II webcam with double stacked 2x barlow lens on INTES Herschel Wedge was used for closeup imaging of the sunspots. Lately in November 2013, ZWO ASI120MM webcam officially replaced my trusty ATIK-1HS2 webcam.
DEEP SKY IMAGES
Summer Milky Way Scorpius / Sagittarius Region
Camera: Canon EOS M6 Mirrorless Camera
Telescope: Canon EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS zoom lens set at 15mm f/3.5 on Vixen Polarie mount
Date: April 15, 2018
Exposure: 7 x 1 min at ISO 1600
LUNAR IMAGES
Whole disk images were taken with Canon 300D , 500D DSLR and latest Canon EOS M6 Mirrorless camera on either TV-101 refractor , Meade ETX-90 AT or Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens while Close Up images were taken with same camera and TV-101 refractor or Meade 8" SCT with ZWO ASI120MM webcam (retired my old ATK-1HS II webcam) with single or double stacked 2x barlow lens.
LUNAR ECLIPSE IMAGES
August 7-8, 2017 Partial Lunar Eclipse
September 17, 2016 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
March 23, 2016 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
April 4, 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse
October 8, 2014 Total Lunar Eclipse
November 28-29, 2012 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
June 4, 2012 Partial Lunar Eclipse
December 10-11, 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse
June 16, 2011 Total Lunar Eclipse
December 21, 2010 Partial Lunar Eclipse (Total Lunar Eclipse in US)
June 26, 2010 Partial Lunar Eclipse
January 1, 2010 Partial Lunar Eclipse
February 9, 2009 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
August 17, 2008 Partial Lunar Eclipse
March 4, 2007 Partial Lunar Eclipse
September 8, 2006 Partial Lunar Eclipse
May 5, 2004 Total Lunar Eclipse
July 16, 2000 Total Lunar Eclipse
SOLAR ECLIPSE IMAGES
July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse
May 21, 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse
January 15, 2010 Partial Solar Eclipse
July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse
January 26, 2009 Partial Solar Eclipse
June 11, 2002 Partial Solar Eclipse
TRANSIT IMAGES
June 6, 2012 Venus Transit
January 13, 2011 ISS Solar Transit
November 9, 2006 Mercury Transit
June 8, 2004 Venus Transit
May 7, 2003 Mercury Transit
OCCULTATION IMAGES
March 28, 2013 Spica Occultation
August 12, 2012 Jupiter Occultation
May 16, 2010 Venus Occultation
December 1, 2007 Regulus Occultation
January 25, 2002 Saturn Occultation
COMET IMAGES
Comet 41P Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak
Camera: Canon 1000D (M) DSLR
Telescope: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4/5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/5.6
Date: March 25, 2017
Exposure: 2 mins x 5 exposure at ISO 1600.
ABOUT ME
Hi! My name is James Kevin Ty. My interests are in astronomy, photography and travels. I started astronomy when I was still 11 years old. Between that time to around 1982, I settled to learning the constellations, planets and the Moon using just a pair of opera glass. A year later, I saved a little money to buy myself a cheap 20x50 refractor. With this scope, I was able to view the Moon and the bright stars. Eventually, I discovered how bad chromatic aberration ruined the image. I then urged my father to buy me a pair of 16x50 binoculars and I used this to further my observations of the bright star clusters and nebula.
It was in the year 1985 that I joined the Philippine Astronomical Society. During that time, Comet Halley was around to keep us busy. It was then that I bought a 50mm f/16 refractor on an altazimuth mount and I was very excited to view the night sky. When I turned the scope to the planet Saturn, I was very delighted to see the ringed planet! Although the view was only at 100x, the small image of this planet was forever etched into my mind. Next came the famous M42, the Great Orion Nebula, in the constellation of Orion. I was disappointed to know that there was no color in this nebula! I thought that my scope was damaged as it was not showing me what I saw in my astro books. I learned later that the photos in the books were taken with film, which was more sensitive than our naked eye to capture the colors.
During my early stage as a member of the society, Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson taught me to be serious in this field and I am thankful for their advice. Both of them are now residing in the U.S. and are working at the Sky & Telescope magazine as associate editor and photo editor respectively. I also met Jun Lao and he gave me some ideas on how to photograph the stars, thus saving me a lot of time to learn and start from scratch. I later developed my skills in astrophotography and had been shooting deep sky objects, comets, planets, eclipses, etc. whenever the weather was clear during weekends. After observing the total solar eclipse in General Santos , Cotabato last March 18, 1988, I got hooked to observing solar eclipses. I lef several PAS eclipse expeditions such as the 1995 expedition at Khon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand; the 1997 expedition at Darhan, Mongolia; the 1998 expedition at Pulau Dayang, Malaysia : the 1999 expedition in Stuttgart, Germany and the 2009 expedition at Wuhan, Hubei Province , China.
In 1998, I decided to setup PHILASTRO-FORUM MAILING LIST so that local amateur astronomers can have a mailing list to discuss and share their astro experiences on any and all astro related topics. I was also responsible for setting up the first PAS webpage that introduced the society to the cyber world also on the same year. The PAS awarded me the Padre Faura Astronomy Medal Award in the year 2000. I was the president of PAS from 1997-2003.
In 2000, I decided to switch to digital astrophotography and started out using a Nikon Coolpix 995 compact digicam to shoot my favorite subject, the Sun, as well as high resolution lunar imaging. After getting acquainted to the compact point and shoot digicam, I made another jump into the Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera in 2003 and used it to image deep sky objects such as nebula, galaxies, star clusters as well as solar system objects such as the Moon, the Sun, comets, etc. I was the first one in the country to use the DSLR system in astrophotography. Later, I also added computer color webcam such as the Toucam Pro 740K and the monochrome ATK-1HS II to image the planets as well as for solar and lunar work.
I set up the Astronomical League of the Philippines, Inc (ALP) together with 12 other amateur astronomers in 2003. I am the president of the organization since its inception. I plan to lead another total solar eclipse expedition, specially with members of the ALP, to the May 20, 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse in Xiamen , China as well as to the March 9, 2016 Total Solar Eclipse in Borneo.
I work as a Sales / Account Executive of Gainsway Marketing Corporation and Astra Paper Corporation. I also do professional technical consultancy for schools and other companies on astronomy-related projects and equipment acquisition. For inquiries, I can be reached at jkty@astrophotophils.com .
I have also been a Canon user ever since I started out in astrophotography in 1985. I am still endorsing and recommending the Canon EOS system to my friends because I feel that with Canon, you can always rely on its quality and sharpness. Canon Philippines also supported the ALP July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse Expedition team which I led. They loaned to us several Canon hi-end DSLRs as well as EF L series lenses as a show of support.
In 2010, I also acquired the portable Kenko Sky Memo-R mount and together with the Canon EOS system and lens, I now have a highly portable imaging setup which can be brought to any location without much problem with regards travel weight and space. More importantly, I can still rely on its quality tracking and image quality despite its portability. In 2012, I also will start to do some CCD imaging after acquring a used ATIK 16HR with color filter wheel and narrow band filters to bolster my quest for better deep sky images.
MY FAVORITE LINKS
ASTRONOMY CLUBS
Astronomical League of the Philippines, Inc. (ALP)
Hong Kong Astronomical Society
The Astronomical Society of Nepal
The Astronomical Society of Singapore (TASOS)
ASTRONOMY RELATED LINKS
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Hubble Site News Center
Pandaigdigang Taon ng Astronomiya 2009 (International Year of Astronomy 2009 Philippines)
NASA Home Page
Space Weather
OBSERVATIONAL AND IMAGING ORGANIZATIONS
Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO)
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Harvard Comet Ephemerides Page
International Dark Sky Association (IDA)
International Meteor Organization (IMO)
International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA)
Seiichi Yoshida's Home Page
WEATHER SATELITE IMAGES
JCUMetSat Image for Asia (Updated every 3 hours)
Kochi University Weather Page
Naval Maritime Forecast Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center (NMFC/JTWC)
Real Time East Asia Image
WeatherSpark
West Pacific Water Vapor Imagery - Satellite Services Division
WFD Goes Guam Sector Satellite Image
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHERS
Antonio Cidadao Home Page of Lunar and Planetary Observation and CCD Imaging
Chris Cook Astrophotography Page
Christopher Go’s Astro Page
Eric Africa's Astro Photo Page
Eric Roel's Imaging Page
Gary Palmer's Solar Minimum Page
Greg Piepol's Sungazer Page
James Kevin Ty Photo Gallery Page
Jason Ware Astrophotography and Digital Imaging Page
Jerry Lodriguss Astrophotography Page
Johannes Schedler’s Digital Imaging Page
John Nassr's Stardust Observatory Page
Stephen Ramsden Solar Astronomy Page
SCOPE DEALERS
Adirondack Video Astronomy
Adorama
Alpine Astro Optical Accessories
Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird
Astro-Physics
Celestron International
Company Seven
Coronado Solar Telescopes
Jim’s Mobile Inc.
Kokusai Kohki
Losmandy-Hollywood General Machining, Inc.
Lumicon International
Meade Instruments Corporation
Oceanside Photo & Telescope (OPT)
Orion Telescope & Binocular Center
Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG)
Stellarvue
Takahashi
Taurus Technologies
Televue Optics
Vixen North America
William Optics
ASTRONOMY SOFTWARES
Guide Dog by BarkoSoftware HomePage
GuideStar LX200 Software Emulator for Autoguiding
PHD Guiding
Maxim DL by Cyanogen Imaging Products
RedShift 5
Registax