Philippine Telescope Hour 2020

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Feb 03

2020

by Norman Marigza

“If there were a million people, with telescopes,
willing to get them out for the public,
there will be a chance for the people born on this world
to see where the hell they are.” - John Dobson

The Manila Street Astronomers, being a community primarily dedicated to astronomy outreach through free telescope viewings, organized a public engagement event in 2017 called the Philippine Telescope Hour. The idea was that telescope owners and astronomy organizations from around the country would setup their telescopes and share what they can see for at least an hour in their own respective areas – be it in schools, observatories, malls, parks, sidewalks, or their own backyard. It is a simultaneous telescope viewing activity that hopes to promote solidarity and engage the local astronomy community in a shared effort of promoting astronomy.

This year the Philippine Telescope Hour took place on February 1. Unfortunately, this time was also a period when the threat of the 2019-nCoV was trending on social media due to a confirmed case in the Philippines, and the influx of Chinese in the Philippines from Wuhan. But despite of the virus scare astronomy groups and telescope owners still pushed through with their respective telescope viewing events. There were 12 registered setups from the event registration, and several others that took place that were not logged. Each of the three major island groups of the Philippine archipelago was also represented with a telescope viewing setup.

We are glad to see all the different individuals who took the time to share their love for astronomy to others through this event. We hope that the local astronomy community would continue to work together across organizational borders and be a reflection of one people under the same sky!