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Observing in Malaysia / Singapore


PhotoGav

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Good folk of SGL,

I am looking into the possibility of observing and imaging in Malaysia and want to hear anyone's experiences of conditions out there in the southern tip of Malaysia, near to Singapore. Now, I am well aware that it is probably not the perfect place to look skywards, but want to get an idea of just how 'bad' it really is out there. Is the light pollution shocking and is it a constantly totally humid and dense atmosphere?! All thoughts and comments most welcome.

Thanks,

Gav.

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Hi Gav,

I am in Singapore quite regularly. Light pollution is comparable to central London. However, there are some places which are not too bad. Eg, East Coast Park, where you have a clear view of the Straits to the South (there are only lights from the hundreds of ships and the Indonesian islands opposite).

there is also the science centre which has a free stargazing session, i think once or twice a month. They have a nice 40cm Pentax Cassegrain on an English mount, in an air-conditioned (!) dome for public viewings. They also have c11 in a separate dome. Definitely worth a visit. Make sure you bring a bottle of water as they have no drinking fountain or vending machine once you are inside the compound

https://www.science.edu.sg/whats-on/workshops-activities/stargazing

The weather can be difficult to predict, but at least its not freezing!

Although there is light pollution, there is nothing like seeing the planets straight overhead.

Unfortunately I have so far not been able to try any of the Malaysian islands, but Tioman should be good. There are also some astrotours from Singapore to Mersing http://www.celestialportraits.com/cp_expeditions.html

Hope this gives you some hints...

Best Regards

Frank

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Sorry to say this but Singapore is now almost completely bathed in light pollution, and combined with high humidity it’s not a prime location for stargazing. The area around the zoo is darker, but you’re still surrounded by the glow. However, if you are able to move up 20-30km into SW Malaysia, it very quickly darkens. I took the train from Singapore to KL and southern Malaysia is still little developed. Unfortunately didn’t have a telescope with me but if the humidity doesn’t get in the way, I can imagine it would be a fascinating place for astronomy.

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In downtown singapore a year back the only things in the night sky were the moon and Venus... no stars at all. Might get better as you go away from downtown, but there ain’t a lot of open spaces to escape things. The weather seemed pretty predictable when I was there.. like being in the Kew greenhouse all the time and with rain in the late afternoon and evening. I won’t complain about London quite so much. 
 

peter

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Thank you for your feedback. That is all very interesting and useful. To be honest I am more encouraged than put off. The location I am investigating is in Malaysia, not Singapore, so that’s in the right direction! As for the planets being overhead, I can only dream of such perfect placement!

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I lived in Spore for 4.5 years. I made quite a few observing trips to the Mersing area of Malaysia. Quite a few Singaporean amateurs went then around New Moon.

This was quite a few years ago, so I don’t know how it is now.

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Taman Negara north of KL is quite dark and definitely remote, worth a trip just to visit the rainforest, but LP is about as low as you will get in peninsular Malaysia. As Jeremy says above, outside of Mersing there isn't too much LP. Tioman Island is pretty dark, didn't make it there however. The biggest problem is that part of the world in general does get a lot of cloud cover and humidity is absolutely sky high. I was into photography at the time, not astro, but I recall the camera shops selling dehumidifier cabinets to store lenses and cameras to prevent fungus. It's always worth a try if you are going to be there but the atmosphere can be incredibly claggy and thick. I had decent skies once doing some star shots with a DSLR and 50mm f1.4 lens, but that was a sparsely populated island (about ten of us!) called Koh Adang in Tarutao National Marine Park off the W coast of Thailand, north of Langkawi Island.  Awesome place. Let us know how you get on.

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1 hour ago, PhotoGav said:

Thank you. Yes, insane humidity is definitely on the ‘to consider’ list! I’ll keep you all posted.

Along the sea the breeze should lighten humidity. I loved living there for a short period, miss the jungle in Taman Negara and so many other aspects. Enjoy. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent a few years in Brunei on Borneo and generally speaking the coast produces more clear skies than inland. The humidity gets into and destroys things very quickly watch out. But the planets and moon even in built up areas are always well placed.

I had the most amazing view of the nigh sky of my life from the top of Kota Kinabalu it blew my mind. The memory of it still does...

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