A photo of the Milky Way, taken with a good smartphone and tripod.
I AM a beginner at stargazing, so when I read a report that the Perseid meteor shower was expected to reach its peak on Aug 12, I thought, why not go out and watch it?
I did some research and discovered that Penang island has a popular stargazing spot at Pantai Malindo, in rustic Balik Pulau, facing directly west with a 200m- long paved embankment after the shoreline for people to walk out to sea.
Armed with my smartphone, tripod and folding chair, I set off for my first meteor shower experience.
You can see the sun sink into the sea at the end of the 200m-long sea embankment in Penang’s Pantai Malindo.
The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that occurs when Earth passes through the debris trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. This cosmic dust and small rocks burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, creating bright streaks of light across the sky.
The Perseids are renowned for their frequency, often producing 50 to 100 meteors per hour at their peak, and their bright, fast meteors that leave glowing trails, making them a favourite for both amateur and seasoned stargazers.
After a 40-minute drive, I arrived at Pantai Malindo at 9.40pm.
To my surprise, many people were already there, waiting for the meteor shower.
At high resolution, the stars appear a little elongated in this photo because Earth is moving at 30km per second around the sun, causing the stars to look slightly stretched in this 30-second exposure taken with a smartphone secured on a tripod.
I found a spot with fewer people, set up my chair and settled in to wait for the meteors.
As I gazed at the sea, I noticed several green lights glowing on the horizon, spreading out into the night sky.
Initially, I thought it might be a natural phenomenon, like an aurora, because it was quite beautiful.
But then I remembered that Penang isn’t a place where auroras occur.
People waiting to see the Perseid meteor shower, but the bright moon and green glow of the squid fishing boats on the horizon caused light pollution.
I soon figured out that the green lights were from squid fishing boats, which use them to attract squid.
Unfortunately, the brightness of these lights created light pollution, making it harder to see the meteors.
Despite this, I enjoyed the night atmosphere by the sea, with a gentle breeze making the evening feel quite refreshing.
I was surprised when, closer to 11pm, even more people arrived to watch the meteor shower – locals and foreigners alike. It seems like Pantai Malindo is quite a popular spot for stargazing.
I also made some new friends who taught me how to use a stargazing app on my smartphone to locate the Milky Way.
While playing around with the app, I found the location of the Milky Way’s bright band, set up my tripod and pointed my phone in that direction.
Using the long exposure setting on my smartphone, I managed to capture my first photo of the Milky Way.
People going to the 200m-long sea embankment in Pantai Malindo to watch the sunset and the stars.
After waiting for a long time, no meteors were spotted by anyone. I began to doubt if I had chosen the correct location or if the light pollution was too much to see meteors.
By midnight, I decided to pack up my gear and leave. But my new friends asked me to stay for just 15 more minutes.
Suddenly, everyone shouted, and when I looked up, I saw a meteor streak across the sky. It happened so quickly – just an eyeblink, which science says is 100 to 400 milliseconds.
I didn’t have time to make a wish, but I got to see a meteor at the end of the night.
Photographer Yeap Eng Guan waiting for the perfect sunset moment at Pantai Malindo.
It was an unforgettable moment.
I learned a few lessons from my experience.
Bringing a chair is a good idea, but not the best one.
The ideal way to watch a meteor shower is to lie down facing the sky to get a wider view, so a sleeping pad would have been more useful than a chair.
Also, my biggest enemy that night was a swarm of mosquitoes – mosquito repellent is an essential item to bring when watching a meteor shower.
