When You Wish Upon Many Stars

Once upon a time (almost 30 years ago), I was the vice-chairman for my school’s astronomy society. In light-polluted Singapore, we would be lucky to see the planets and the major constellations and if you knew where to look, the occasional star cluster with the naked eye (the Pleiades anyone?). I dabbled a little in astrophotography using ISO 3200 black-and-white negative film but was limited by what I could do. When we heard news that there might be possible sightings of the Southern Lights during our vacation in Tasmania, I took the trouble to wake myself in the middle of the night to look for them. We did not really get to see the Southern Lights in the end, but the experience of seeing the Milky Way with the naked eye and getting the opportunity to capture it on my digital camera were worth the sleep we sacrificed.