Last month, a Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki discovered a violent cosmic eruption in the Pinwheel Galaxy on May 19, 2023.

A supernova occurs when the core of a massive star at the end of its life violently collapses as it runs out of fuel.

SN2023ixf is one of the closest supernovae to our Solar system which is approximately 21 million light-years from Earth.

The celestial outburst will be visible in backyard telescopes for the next few months.

Our Solar System is located in a barred spiral galaxy. If you look to the centre of the galaxy (top left of the above picture), you will find a higher density of stars and gas clouds, which is called the galactic core. You can see this galactic core and milky way even with the naked eye if you are in a dark enough place. It looks like a starry faint, milky band in the sky.

From Brunei Darussalam, the Milky Way’s core is visible from March till September, with prime viewing times from May till August i.e. the Milky Way season when the galactic centre is observable all-night long.

When planning to observe the Milky Way, consider the following:

1) Good dark location: Essentially, a clear dark sky is necessary to shoot the Milky Way or Galactic Core and that means driving to rural areas further from the cities or town in Brunei Darussalam. Presence of the moon light could also interfere the visibility of the MilkyWay, hence avoid during and near full moon phase.

2) Right time: Have any plan for November to capture the Milky Way? You will be disappointed. From Brunei, the Milky Way is below the horizon at night from November and January. Use this timetable to select and plan the proper time:

3) Suitable equipment: A dslr or phone camera (with bigger/sensitive sensor); a fast lens (f2.8 or better); a trigger or timer remote (so less vibration) and a sturdy tripod

Online Skymap

Use our online star chart and click “Milky Way” to display if the milky way band is in the sky at the mentioned time:

How many star patterns and constellations can you identify in this picture?

MB Mazalan bin Zaini, member of Brunei Darussalam Astronomical Society, captured a part of our Milky Way’s centre (luminous band of star) which lies in the Arabic constellation Ar-Rami (The Archer, Sagittarius) during twilight from Bukit Sawat, Belait, Brunei Darussalam today (5.15am, 22 March 2020 corresponding to 27 Rejab 1441H). The star Gumala, IAU new 2019 Brunei proposal, is also visible in Sagittarius.

In order to see the Milky Way with countless stars, you need extremely dark skies, away from the light polluted city such as at Bukit Sawat. For us to continue to experience this starry night, we can act today by supporting to fight light pollution and preserve our dark skies.

Oleh Ismani Ismail

Satu ‘hunting’ milkyway telah pun dibuat dan dilaksanakan oleh saya serta rakan-rakan fotografer dari ‘Brunei Landscapiers’ seawal jam 0100Hrs. Alhamdulillah, cuaca yang berawan pada mulanya kian beransur cerah dan menampakkan keindahan jutaan bintang atau galaksi ciptaanNya…

Lokasi : Kawasan Padi Junjongan
Tarikh : 22 Mac 2015
Jam : 0258Hrs
Gear : Nikon D300s | Tokina 11-16mm | Tripod | Shutter Cable
Exif : f/2.8 | 11mm | ISO-1600 | Shutterspeed 30 sec

Let me tell you a secret – taking photographs of the milky way is not that hard as you might think. What will you need is a perfect clear night sky and of course a camera. But what is the most difficult nowadays is to find a perfect spot free of light pollutions.

Yes, with some luck and by chance, I managed to take some photos of the milky way in this country, Brunei Darussalam, early in the morning right after we celebrated the first Astronomy Day in Brunei. The sky was so so starry and I was so amazed by the very bright milky way stretching across the heavens.

Where about? If you drive along pantai Seri Kenangan, between kampong Sengkarai and kampong Kuala Tutong, on the beach you will be amazed it to be a perfect darkness – completely free from streetlights and lampposts (and I hope let it be that way, I beg “please Department of JKR do not plug any more lights”). However, I have noticed that there are cars now and then passing by along it even at early dawn. That might disturb your photos but it can be minimize by using a shade placed in front of the camera lens.

I am using my Canon EOS 350D with a sigma lens (set to 24mm). At night, auto focus will not be possible since the sky is very dark. So set your camera to manual focus. The trouble is, looking through the viewfinder might be very difficult to focus the stars, so I suggest you to find a very bright stars or planets to guide in focusing. You will notice that, you will use most of the time setting your lens to infinity.

The camera should be placed on a tripod and using a cable release bulb so as to minimize your camera from shaking. Again, you will have to set your camera to manual mode. I tried to set about aperture about f/6 and varies the exposure. Be careful that the longer exposure will cause the star trailing and too fast will only record very bright points in the sky.

So try varying your exposures!!!

“Full of surprises”. If your are lucky, sometimes you even capture trails of man-made satellite and even very bright meteors. Look at this photo, there is a trail of a satellite – I don’t think it was a plane, since if it is, then the track would be red since all planes transmit light of red beam.

Bear in mind that to get good photos of the heaven will required a guided astrophotography technique by means of attaching your camera to a motorized tripod, that is keep the view locked with celestial movement.

I heard that other than Seri Kenangan Beach, another dark spot you can uncover in this country is along the road to Merimbun lake, but it is located in the rural district of Tutong. Astronomy is very full of excitements.