SCIENCE | Trailblazing Christopher Go

Christopher Go pursued astronomy way back in college at University of San Carlos when it seemed quixotic and people's idea of pursuing astronomy is to be an astronaut moon walking in outer space wearing a space suit. In the 80s and 90s he provided Sun.Star with great photos whenever there are lunar eclipses visible in Cebu City. He studied physics at USC which, with its German SVD scientific tradition is one of the city's most competent universities when it comes to the sciences.

A Cebuano of Chinese descent, he got married early and got more practical putting up a furniture manufacturing and exporting business, one of the city's sunshine industries. But he didn't give up on his astronomical studies. His discovery of a red spot in Jupiter otherwise known as Red Spot Jr. made him a household name in American and European Astronomical circles. Here in an interview with Europlanet Christopher Go talks about his life as an amateur astronomer, furniture exporter, family man and physics teacher:

Leading amateur astronomer, Christopher Go, talked to Europlanet's Anita Heward about using the Hubble Space Telescope, discovering impacts on Jupiter and starting a whole new field of astronomy.

AH: How long have you been doing amateur astronomy?

CG: I got interested in November 1986, during the last apparition of Halley’s Comet. I was still in high school then, and I was just using a pair of binoculars. I was also fortunate to get a copy of the August 1996 issue of Astronomy Magazine. The rest I learned from books from our school library.

AH: Was anyone in your family interested in astronomy?

CG: No. There were hardly any amateur astronomers in my city. During 1986, there was no Internet, so it wasn’t easy to communicate with other people. I had to work things out by myself. What really helped a lot were the magazines particularly Astronomy and Sky & Telescope. These periodicals give me connections with other amateur astronomers and what they are doing.

I started planetary imaging in 2003. That was during the great Mars opposition. I started imaging Jupiter and Saturn in 2004. In 2006 I discovered that Oval BA had turned red. This spot was later nicknamed the Red Spot Junior. Because of this, I was invited by Imke de Pater, of UC Berkeley, to join her team in doing Jupiter research and we’ve used the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory. It was also during that time period that I got to know and collaborate with Glenn Orton of JPL, Amy Simon Miller of NASA GSFC, Agustin Sanchez-Lavega of IOPW and other planetary astronomers. It’s been an exciting for an amateur astronomer to link up with the professionals.

Last year in 2009, there was a quad-transit of Saturn where four moons crossed the face of Saturn. I teamed up with the Hubble Heritage Team and Mike Wong to image this event using the Hubble Space Telescope.





AH: Talk me through the last year.

CG: Early morning of June 3 (June 4 local time) last year, Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley sent an e-mail that he had detected an impact in Jupiter. As I went through my own data which I got earlier that morning, I found that I too had imaged the impact. It was just great timing that we were imaging at exactly the same time.

This would turn out to be the first time an extraterrestrial fireball was observed here on earth. One thing interesting is that this probably is one of the few times that amateur astronomers have created a new field in astronomy – which is ‘small impacts on other planets’. So right now we amateurs are basically trying to build a network constantly monitoring the planets to see if there are more impacts. This is quite important because we don’t have any statistics on many small objects orbiting the Solar System.

AH: That must have been exciting.

CG: Yes indeed. We are now able to collaborate with professionals in using the Hubble Space Telescope and other earth based observatories like Keck, Gemini, IRTF and VLT. In my case, our group (with Dr Imke de Pater) have used the Hubble Space Telescope every year since 2006 with a total of probably around 40 orbits.

AH: That must put you ahead of a lot of professional astronomers in terms of the amount of time you’ve had on Hubble.

CG: The collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers is really very strong in Planetary Science. In our study of the outer planets, we already have an excellent system where observations by amateurs are accessible to professionals.

Unfortunately, the use of the Hubble Space Telescope and the large observatories around the world are not infinite. Professionals need to fight to get time in using these instruments. And observing planets isn’t really top priority. This is where hundreds of amateurs around the world imaging on a nightly basis can provide data. The resolution of amateur images is already approaching that of professional imaging.

There is a structure wherein professionals and amateurs collaborate and, if there’s a new phenomenon, our reaction time is very fast. For example during the impact, we were able to get Hubble in two days. It was something unbelievable, because the whole process on how to use Hubble can take weeks.

AH: In the Philippines, is there a thriving astronomy community?

CG: There are two major astronomical societies in the Philippines but these are based in Manila. Right now we are starting one here in Cebu, called the Cebu Amateur Astronomers Association.

I am fortunate to have a fellow planetary imager here in Cebu. Tomio Akutsu is a renowned Japanese planetary imager who now works here. He also co-discovered a third red spot in Jupiter in 2008.

One thing nice about Cebu island is that we are very close to the equator where the planets are very high up and we have very stable atmosphere because of its proximity to the sea. We get very high resolution up to 0.2 arcseconds per pixel. Tropical islands are ideal places to do planetary imaging.

AH: What do you do in your day job?

CG: I run a furniture factory. I sell tables, chairs and accessories to the USA and Europe.

But my background is physics. I’m a lecturer in our university part-time. When I started the furniture business, I used to teach about three units per semester. But once I got busy, I had to stop. But right now I still do some lectures for the Physics Department of the University of San Carlos.

AH: You make time to come to conferences?

CG: I try to make time. This is the first time I’ve been to Europlanet, but normally I frequent the DPS meeting. This is where our group present our work , our group with Imke de Pater , and it’s also the time where we can meet. Conferences are also good time to get to know other planetary astronomers and meet those that I collaborate with. It’s good timing because the week after the DPS is a furniture show in North Carolina, so it hits two birds with one stone. These are usually scheduled during the same time period, so it’s cost convenient.

INSIGHT | Truly national

| BY J.D. VELEZ

There is no such thing as Filipino national culture.The Filipino nation is a political creation. Same with so-called Filipino national language, constitutionally designated as lingua franca of the Philippines, as if you can legislate a language into existence.

The Filipino language is based mainly on Tagalog. Same with everything else Filipino or national. They're all thinly-veiled Tagalog. And that holds true also for the Philippine national history. It's more of history of the Tagalog people. We barely read about Leon Kilat, Apolinar Velez or Arcadio Maxilom in Philippine history books.

While the Philippine political and legal establishment is monolithic, its cultural make-up is far from it. We often hear of cultural minorities. But who are the cultural majorities? They are the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Ilonggos, Ilocanos, Warays, Kapampangans, Pangasinenses and Bicolanos. Then why should the Filipino or the national heavily biased for the Tagalogs? A truly national culture and history is one that reflects our diversity and identity as peoples of the Philippines.

WOMEN | Today's Cebuanas

Cebuanos are oblivious to ethnicity. Caucasian-looking men and women are common sight in the city and throughout the island. You might mistake them for foreigners until they speak in fluent Cebuano. For Cebuanos it's no big deal. We've come to accept we are a mix of races and proud of our Cebuano roots and heritage.

Cebu Chinese School student Kim Chiu
now a celebrity and top product endorser 

Spanish mestiza Ruffa Guitterez traces
her roots to the Ramas of  Cebu City

Spanish Chinese mestiza Lucy Torres
traces her roots to the Velezes of Cebu.

Boholana beauty Ana Marie
Igpit now calls Cebu home.

WOMEN | Native Beauty

Native women in paintings by Manuel Panares

For years, Filipinos have been conditioned to perceive the native as ugly and the mestiza beautiful. There developed a disdain for the Indio, the Spanish term for the natives who inhabited the Philippine isles. This is nowhere more evident in beauty contests. Contest organizers often prefer mestiza contestants over morenas or brown beauties. In the few instances when a morena gets to represent the country abroad, they usually return with an award. But that's only for those rare occasions they get to represent the country.

Foreigners today see things differently. Whites see the native as beautiful. It's getting to be a common sight at Philippine airports - a native woman with a Caucasian partner. White men find the dusky, morena Cebuana an exotic beauty.

Sadly, native beauties have been the victims of cyber crimes and exploitation in dating sites. Impoverished native women, including those already married, find quick cash from chatting and getting intimate online with foreigners.

This is their land. The native woman is beautiful. They need not end up exploited.

PROFILE | Cebu City, Queen City of the South

Cebu's port is home to most of the Philippines' shipping companies. It's not surprising as Cebu City has been, historically, the center of commerce, education, entertainment and information of Southern Philippines. It is also the administrative, ecclesiastical and cultural capital of the region. Its influence is far-reaching and wide. It has remained the Queen City of the South for years due to the ingenuity and flexibility of its people surviving the ups and downs of trade in sugar, hemp, copra and furniture.

During the height of the cash crop boom in the 19th century, some Mestizo traders from the city's Parian district settled in Cebu's neighboring islands, helping greatly in their development. From the Velezes of Cebu, for instance, descended leaders of Cagayan and Bohol. Aniceto Velez Clarin, Bohol's first governor was from Parian, and so was Apolinar Velez,Cagayan de Oro's grand old man.

Many Cebuanos have settled in Mindanao, bringing with them their traditions and religious practices like the veneration of their hometown's patron saint which is replicated wherever they decide to settle down.  They maintain close ties with Cebu wherever they are, sending children to study in the city and keeping ties with relatives back home.

Cebu City in turn, has also been enriched with the migration of other Mestizo elites to the city at the turn of the 20th century. Leyte-based Aboitiz and Escaño families engaged in the lucrative trade of hemp migrated to Cebu and established themselves in the city where their business interests grew and diversified.

FOOD | Native food is delicious

Native food makes your mouth water. Utan Bisaya assures one a long life if eaten regularly. It's low in fat, sugar and salt and high in nutrients. minerals and vitamins.

The lechon or native roasted pig is eaten on special occasions like fiestas and birthdays. It's high in fats and cholesterol but as long as eaten with moderation is not bad for one's health. Same with the tasty buwad or dried fish which is naturally salty.

utan bisaya

Lechon

Buwad

LANGUAGE | Cebuano is alive

Cebuano is alive. Thanks to Sonny Garcia's wise investment on a Cebuano tabloid. It was both a commercially and culturally significant move on the part of the former Cebuano DOTC secretary. To date, it is the most widely-circulated daily in Cebu history. It has a circulation of 60,000 copies daily according to its news editor Roger Vallena.

CULTURE | Cebuano is beautiful

USP Choir singing Rosas Pandan during the Gabii sa Kabilin. Video taken with Sony Cybershot 7.2 megapixel camera by my brother Gee


Almost everyone in Cebu and its neighboring isles embraced Cebuano culture including the Mestizos of Chinese and Spanish descent. Everyone spoke the beautiful native tonque. Cebuano is beautiful especially when sung. Listen to the world-renown choral piece Rosas Pandan.

PRIDE OF PLACE | Small is beautiful

Filipinos of native descent are short and small compared to the tall Caucasians who came to conquer the Asian archipelago. But like everything else in the Philippine isles, size is inconsequential.  Quality does not necessarily go with size. Take the native chili, it's the world's smallest, yet, it is also the hottest and the best.

The comparison doesn't end there. The small native chicken or manok bisaya is tastier than the American introduced commercial chicken. Try kinamunggayang manok bisaya and taste the difference.

The same is true not only with native fowl and spice. Among men, there's the diminutive Manny Pacquiao whose foes have fallen one by one inside the boxing ring, including boxers much larger than him. Pacquiao traces his roots to Pinamungahan in Cebu's west coast.

The Bisaya has much to offer the world. Filipinos confused with their identities might as well come home and discover for themselves the wonders of their heritage, both tangible and intangible.

DEVELOPMENT | Solving the Philippine puzzle

| BY JD VELEZ

The Philippines is a puzzle. America swept all the country's divisions under the rug when it wrested the islands from Spain. It colonized the country and patterned its political development with that of the US,conferring upon Filipinos their rights as citizens of a commonwealth under the United States.

Being a Filipino simply means we are citizens of a sovereign nation complete with our rights and duties. Our Filipino citizenship signifies that we belong to a body politic, a legal creation first pioneered by the Greeks and developed further by the Romans. The French and Americans restored the concept after they declared themselves no longer under any crown.

Western humanist concepts of rights and freedoms was what America introduced to Filipinos at the beginning of the 20th Century. In America, the most successful human experiment in self-governance ruled by reason and the belief in the inviolability of the rights of man, Americans manage to set aside cultural differences to give way to their civic responsibilities. In the Philippines the same can't be said. The state is weak as it is, and cultural and social problems and differences overwhelm governance.

The country has a plethora of problems. It's hard even just to identify where to start fixing it. But like any solution, it begins with identifying what is the problem. Understanding who we are as a colonized people is crucial to our development. We are diverse.  Studies of Southeast Asian colonial development is helping us understand better ourselves and our society. Maybe, that's where we should start untangling the puzzling mesh centuries of colonial rule had brought upon our land. By reclaiming the past, we again own the future.