Hong Kong’s famous city glow surrounding its iconic harbour hides much brighter light with millions of years of history. In a star gazing workshop exploring the night sky, eager students and staff from the Graduate School (GS) learned about the constellations visible to the naked eye from EdUHK’s Tai Po campus by Associate Professor Dr Chan Man Ho. 

Following a classroom briefing about the prominent stars and constellations above Hong Kong, Dr Chan introduced the Stellarium app, which maps the night sky. Shifting outdoors with telescopes and high-powered binoculars, Dr Chan and his team then provided participants with hands-on instructions on how to use Stellarium to find stars and constellations.

Participants expressed their surprise at how easy it became to identify different stars. When viewing Venus, Dr Chan explained that Galileo Galilei’s 17^th-century observation provided strong evidence that planets orbited the sun. He also helped participants appreciate the contrast in colours and patterns, such as Mars's redness and the stars' brightness in the Winter Triangle.

Students and staff greatly appreciate the guidance and support from Dr Chan and his team. If the conditions are right, the GS will consider scheduling another Star Gazing workshop this semester.