Stargazing in Hong Kong: where to view the night sky, and how for one family it became a new hobby in the Covid-19 era

Things are looking up for a family on one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands thanks to a new Covid-19-era hobby

Equipment is selling out fast as other Hongkongers gaze at the heavens – even from the middle of densely urban Kowloon

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Emerson and Marlena Santella have discovered, along with their parents, a new hobby during the time of the coronavirus. Photo: Daniel Santella

Published: 12:15pm, 1 Mar 2021Updated: 12:15pm, 1 Mar 2021

Towards the end of last year, the Santella family – two adults, two children, one dog – were searching for a new coronavirus-era time-filler.

Then, in what can only be described as a cosmic coincidence, Saturn and Jupiter hit the headlines as the planets spun up close to each other for the first time in decades, on December 21. And inspiration struck.

For Christmas, an uncle gave a couple of Gskyer telescopes with 10- and 25-millimetre (0.4 inches and 1 inch) lenses and a three-magnification extender to Emerson and Marlena. Even before it was fully dark, the household was hooked.

Living in the balconied upper storeys of a Hong Kong village house at the base of Lin Fa Shan mountain, in Mui Wo, on Lantau Island, was a definite aid to nighttime navigation – air pollution there is low. A long run of dry, sunny days had also, more often than not, resulted in a dazzling sky full of stars after sunset.

Emerson and Marlena, stargazing in Lantau, Hong Kong. Photo: Daniel Santella

“We can see the bigger planets like Venus and Jupiter, and a whole lot of stars, and the shadows and craters on the moon,” says 10-year-old Emerson. “It’s pretty cool.”