Nov 22, 2009

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STAR PARTY, NOV 21, 2009

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A larger scale star party was held at Mr. Khalid Marwat's place in Malir Cantt Karachi on Nov 21, 2009. This activity was mostly clustered around his 18" Obsession dobsonian reflector. Details of the activity will be available soon. Visit the gallery for images.

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(From left: Mr. Imran, Mr. Belal, Mr. Khalid, Dr. Akbar, and Dr. Ashraf) 

 

  

 

 

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Nov 11, 2009

 

 

A small scale star party was held at our roof-top in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Karachi, Nov 11, 2009. Mr. Khalid Marwat was there to guide our small group of amateur astronomers. Zain Ahmed's absence was strongly felt. The instruments used were Dr. Ashraf's Sky-watcher 100ED apochromatic refractor on a Giro-3 Altazimuth mount, Mr. Belal Tehseen's Sky-watcher 130mm Newtonian reflector, and Ayaz Hussain's Celestron 127EQ Newtonian reflector.

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Views of Jupiter were stunning with the 100mm Apochromat coupled with the Explorer scientific 100 degrees 14mm eye-piece. Other objects viewed were Orion M42 Nebula, Epsilon Lyrae quadruple system, Pleiades, and other objects.

(Visit the gallery)

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Nov 05, 2009

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SHAZIA AND SADAF'S TELESCOPE NEARING COMPLETION

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New talent emerges at the horizon of amateur astronomy in Pakistan as Shazia Rana and Sadaf Zaidi (students of Bahria University Karachi and new members of PAAS) take their 6" refractor to near completion. This motorized and computerized piece of astronomical engineering, supported by its indigenous astronomy software,  holds many promises for the future of amateur astronomical telescope designing and making in Pakistan. This duo deserves the highest appreciation.

(Visit the gallery)

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- Dr. Muhammad Akbar Hussain

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October 08, 2009

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NEW MEMBER OF PAAS

  

Meet Mr. Belal Tehseen

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A dairy farmer by profession and a keen amateur astronomer by passion, Mr. Belal Tehseen balances his life between milky way on Earth to the Milky Way in Sky through his faithful Skywatcher 130mm reflector. We at P.A.A.S. welcome him to our society and are keen to benefit form his experience and ideas to promote amateur astronomy in Pakistan.

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October 08, 2009 

 

LIST OF URBAN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

(As observed by Zain Ahmed and in his own narration)

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"Although the sky was not quite as transparent as it was yesterday, I decided to look for M15 [magnitude +6.2] and M2 [+6.3] with the 7X35. Strangely, I had never seen [perhaps I never did prepare well enough for] these bright globs before.

Started off with the mighty M31 low in the East. Then a jump from Enif landed me straight at warm M15. M2 was easy too. Then I looked again at M15. It was 09:27. Just then, a faint meteor shot right through the FOV from East to West. This was my first binocular meteor. Considering the light pollution, I would probably not have seen it unaided.

After that, spent a few moments with the asterisms around. The Coat hanger came first. I then found out Delphinus fits perfectly in the FOV of the bino. Also tried hard for M27, but the sky was just not good enough. I probably saw it briefly, but I don't remember the pattern formed by the stars around it to confirm the observation.

So the list of globular clusters observable from the city with a 7X35 becomes:

• M2
• M3
• M4
• M5
• M10
• M12?
• M13
• M15
  
• M22
• M92
• NGC 5139

Perhaps someone could add to it?"

Thank you Zain for the great contribution.

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September 26, 2009

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PAAS, QUETTA CHAPTER

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Mr. Baqir Naqvi from Quetta has joined the team of Pakistan Amateur Astronomers Society. He is a lecturer in physics with a life long passion for the sky. He has an 8" refractor and a few smaller telescopes and digital cameras. He has compiled details of his work at his webpage at http://astrobaqir.webs.com/

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August 05, 2009

  

NEW EQUIPMENT FOR PAAS

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Pakistan Amateur Astronomers Society has recently acquired premium optics and equipment. These include:

1. JMI NGF DX2 Crayford Focuser

2. Telrad Unit Finder

3. Antares 1.25" Laser Collimator

4. Parks Optical Gold Series 3.8mm Eye-piece

5. Explore Scientific  100 degree apparent field of view 14mm eye-piece.

Visit the gallery for images.

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July 22, 2009

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ASIAN SOLAR ECLIPSE OF JULY 2009

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Zain Ahmed  has successfully captured the Asian Solar Eclipse of 22 July 2009 in the early hours of morning.

Location ------------------------------------------- Karachi

Time: ------------------------------------------------ Sunrise

Equipment used:---------------------------------Sony DSC-W1 Cyber-shot at ISO 100, exposure of 0.005 sec (1/200), aperture f/2.8, afocally coupled to a Vixen R130 at 32.5X. 

Good work Zain

 

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June 06, 2009

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STAR PARTY AT PIXSENSE KARACHI

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A star party was organized by the members of Pakistan Amateur Astronomers Society at PixSense Karachi. The purpose of was to assess the feasablility of organizing future small scale star nights and observing events. I would thank Mehdi and Faraz for their active role in managing this small event.

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April 10, 2009

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LIST OF URBAN DEEP SPACE OBJECTS (DSOs)

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Zain Ahmed has come up with a list of Deep Space Objects that he has identified with his average binoculars. This list is as of the early spring sky of northern hemisphere at subtropical latitude. He strives to identify more objects at other times of the year. The purpose of this list is to create an awareness that useful astronomy can still be done with the most limited equipments under light-polluted urban skies of major cosmopolitan cities like Karachi. We endeavour to exponentially expand this list after the completion of larger telescopes like SK'EYE-4 and SK'EYE-5.The list includes the following objects:

M3 [globular cluster in Canes Venatici],	M5 [globular cluster, Serpens],
M6, M7 [galactic (open) clusters in Scorpius],	M8 [the Lagoon Nebula, Sagittarius],
M10 [globular cluster, Ophiuchus],	M11[the Wild Duck Clusterin Scutum],
M13[The Hercules Globular Cluster],	M16 [the Eagle Nebulain Serpens Cauda],
M22[the Great Sagittarius Globular],	M25[open clusterin Sagittarius],
M29[open cluster in Cygnus],	M31 [the Great Andromeda Spiral],
M34[OC in Perseus],	M35[OC in Gemini],
M36,M37[open clusters in Auriga],	M41[open cluster, Canis Major],
M42[the Great Nebula in Orion],	M44 [the Beehive (Praespae) in Cancer],
M45[the Pleiades- can also be seen unaided],	M47 [OC in Puppis],
M50[OC, Monoceros],	M92[globular in Hercules] &
M93 [galactic cluster in Puppis].

 

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March 14, 2009

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CELESTRON 127 EQ

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I have purchased a Celestron 127 EQ a few days back. Unfortunately I have not tried it to view the sky yet, because of the cloudy weather here in Northern Ireland. I hope to take it back to Pakistan, by April or June, when I would also resume the construction of SK'EYE-4.

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