The Singapore Humanism Meetup (SHM) organised an astronomy outing at East Coast Park, CP1 Jetty on October 17, 2009. Some 30 people attended our gathering. Despite the darkness and obscure location of the jetty at East Coast Park, most of the participants found their way there eventually.
The outing lasted from 8pm to 11pm. Dan Dan (above), who is involved in the astronomy club in his school, organised the gathering and provided the telescopes. One of the volunteers, Adrian, helped with logistics through his mini-van.
After a round of introductions, Dan Dan introduced the history of astronomy to the participants, including the roles of Galileo, Newton and Copernicus in revolutionising our view of the universe. After that, Dan Dan taught people how to identify horoscopes and zodiacs in the night sky, discussing their stories at the same time. After 9pm, everyone split into groups to discuss any topic of interest. Topics include:
- What’s before the Big Bang?
- Is there alien life?
- What will the universe become?
- What if there’s a complete unified theory of the universe?
- What is the purpose of the universe, life, and us?
In the meantime, each group took turns to take a view through the telescopes. Our gathering ended at 11pm, but not before taking a group photo!
