MidLand, Jakarta – Timau Observatory in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), will be tested in 2024. According to research professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the National Innovation Research Agency (BRIN) Thomas Djamaluddin, earlier this year the goal was to install the main and third mirror. “The goal is for this to be tested by mid-2024,” he said on Friday, January 27, 2024.
At the online event Dialogue, Chat, Popular Scientific Facts in Space Science, Thomas said telescope with a diameter of 3.8 meters it is the largest in Southeast Asia. The attention of Indonesian astronomers is now focused on the completion phase of the new observatory. “Then later we will plan astronomical research with a telescope in Timau,” he said.
Astronomical research, according to him, is not only carried out by BRIN researchers but also invites collaboration with Indonesian universities and international partners. Observations can be directed to the northern sky and especially to the southern sky which has not been widely explored. “Because most observatories are in the Northern Hemisphere,” Thomas said.
Thomas hopes that the Timau National Observatory can further stimulate astronomical research in Indonesia at various universities. Telescopes are mainly used to observe faint objects such as stars, asteroids, planetary satellites, comets and exoplanets or planets outside the solar system. The photometric instrument or the measurement of changes in starlight is considered very useful for observing objects whose light suddenly brightens. “For example, a supernova or the explosion of a star,” he said.
The construction of the Timau National Observatory, started in 2017, involved the National Agency for Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), which was then joined by BRIN, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the University of Nusa Cendana, the Kupang Regency Government and the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Government. Unlike the older telescope model, the 3.8 meter wide telescope is made up of a series of mirrors.
Announcement
The telescope made by Nishimura.Co.Ltd Japan is a twin of the Okayama Observatory telescope, affiliated with Kyoto University, Japan. The Seimei telescope, as it is called, was completed in 2017-2018. The telescope is a hyperbola-shaped primary mirror composed of 18 flower petal-like parts and is surrounded by a frame called a spider structure.
Smaller secondary and tertiary mirrors are installed in the front of the large mirror. The telescope is positioned on a circle of concrete pillars and ring-shaped braces. Just as its shape seems complicated, the automatic movement of dozens of mirrors equipped with numerous sensors to maintain the mirror’s curvature is equally complex. This means that there are 18 mirrors that need to be positioned, not only back and forth, but the tilt also needs to be corrected so that the telescope can accurately point at the celestial object it is pointing at.
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