Buwan at Bituin

Telescope Viewing 🔭, Asterism Making ✡️, Meteorite Viewing ☄️, Rocket Launching 🚀... These were some of the engaging activities that the UP National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development had prepared on the night of November 15 for the "Buwan at Bituin," a public astronomy event that happens every decade.

The event was marked by hundreds of people coming in to view the planets through the telescopes—including UP NISMED's 16-inch reflecting telescope—and the variety of fun stations set up on UP NISMED's rooftop. My personal favorite was the asterism-making station, where you were supposed to build your own asterism using a bunch of push pins and yarn strings. I'd been wanting to try it for a looong time already but once I got in front of the board, I didn't know what to create anymore lol. I ended up making something reminiscent of a wild horseradish from my current game obsession, Stardew Valley.

It was really funnn!! A ticket and an event map were issued upon entering the venue and on the back of the ticket, there were spaces for each of the 8 stations available. We were supposed to get at least 6 of them stamped to claim a reward. Since my attendance was one of impulse, I decided to enjoy the night and not care about the rewards at all. But my mind instantly changed when I saw the reward: a postcard of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" 🌌 !! I loveee "The Starry Night" so I locked in immediately and set my sights on the prize haha. Unfortunately, by the time we got enough stamps, the postcards had already ran out and we received a sticker instead. The event ended around midnight with a show of water rocket launching.

Lastly, I also got to meet other members of the Philippine Union of Student Organizations for Astronomy (aka PUSO for Astro). Fun, fun astro night 🤩

Ad astra, always 💖