MAY IS A stifling month in northern Malaysia. After a tempestuous monsoon season, it is a clear night tonight in Penang — something of a rarity. A few dissipating wisps of clouds flirt with the eager stars. Six months under rain clouds and another six under hazy skies in the dry season, Penang is wrought with frustrations for those who enjoy the company of the stars.
Penang lies five degrees north of the equator. From this privileged position, we are at a special vantage point for viewing both the northern and southern skies – the former studded with bright gleaming stars; the latter rich in hallucinatory star clouds and dramatic celestial vistas. Overcast weather aside, Penang’s night skies offer the best of both worlds, providing vistas that stargazers from the global north, where the hobby has gained traction (think North America and Europe), have to fork over tens of thousands of dollars to travel to see. In fact, many astronomers in the northern hemisphere have never seen the unparalleled splendour of the summer southern Milky Way.
