::Interactive Astronomy::

Singapore Skies

Before you start to observe the skies in Singapore, it is absolutely necessary to acquaint yourselves with the conditions of the skies in Singapore as it is very much different from other skies. Hence, this section aims to explain the conditions and characteristics of the Singapore skies.

The Sky in Singapore

Have you gone out on any night, only to see the sky as a reddish bowl over your head? That is not rare. Singapore, a modern metropolitan city, with its many lights, has a severely light-polluted night sky. Coupled with the poor weather conditions, any deep-sky observing at night can be difficult.

Venus, in the West during Spring of 2004, imaged with a webcam

Why is it difficult to observe in Singapore?

Many celestial objects fainter than 4th magnitude cannot be seen with naked eyes. On good nights, the faintest object that can be seen is of only about 5th magnitude; on poor nights, only stars and planets of more than 2nd magnitude can be observed.

So what are the few main reasons for these poor observations?

Heavy light pollution from high-rise housing estates pollute the surroundings with sodium and mercury light.
Singapore, being in an equatorial region, experiences high cloud cover and humidity due to its geographical position being surrounded by the South China Sea
High-rise buildings obstruct the view and horizon, limiting the stars to be seen to those above 20 degrees higher than the horizon.

Myth that is commonly raised:

Astronomy is impossible in Singapore, the cloudy skies heavily hinder deep-sky observing. Few stars can be seen. Thus, why bother?

Fact:

The few stars that can be seen in Singapore are the brighter stars in the night sky, serving as signposts to other stars. By knowing these few stars well, one would be able to get acquainted with the sky more easily and recognize stars better when overseas (eg. Malaysia, China , Australia, America), where the star fields are so vast and huge that one does not even know where to begin stargazing. So do you now understand?

Compare the two images, one from Singapore and the other in Johor, Malaysia. What is the difference? The better conditions in neighbouring countries often enable better observing conditions.

Singapore Skies | Sky Conditions | Light Pollution