KLIKLABUANBAJO.ID | The name of the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is becoming more and more popular, there is something new in the area, namely the first modern space observation or observation center to be built in eastern Indonesia.
A round green building with a roof like a silver dome looks so prominent in the middle of the beautiful hills of the Mount Timau area, Central Amfoang District, Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). It is the only sturdy building on the hillside which is overgrown with pine trees and shrubs which is a protected forest area.
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At first glance, the shape of the building is similar to the Bosscha Observatory in Lembang District, West Bandung Regency, West Java. Apparently the allegations were true, because the building on the slopes of the ancient Timau mountain was indeed the first modern space observation or observation center built in eastern Indonesia.
Its full name is the Timau National Observatory (Obnas), located at an altitude of 1,300 meters above sea level. The location of the Obnas Timau is really quiet, there are no other buildings except for the observation facility.
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A 40-kilometer smooth paved road from Bokong to Lelogama that has been built by the Provincial Government of NTT is the only link between Obnas Timau and the outside world. When night falls, only the sound of night insects calling out to each other sounds similar to orchestral music, really serene.
Reporting from Indonesia.go.id, even at night, billions of stars scattered across the Timau sky can be enjoyed to the heart’s content by the naked eye. Head of the Aviation and Space Research Organization of the National Innovation and Research Agency (BRIN) Robertus Heru on the agency’s Instagram account explained, for five years a study was carried out to examine the night fraction of the sky in several regions in Indonesia.
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“As a result, the Timau area is still minimal in light pollution, so it is optimal to be used as an astronomical observation area,” he said.
According to BRIN, Kupang has the most sunny skies in a year compared to other places in Indonesia. This contrasts with what is happening at the Bosscha Observatory which is no longer suitable to be a center for space observations due to the increasing number of settlements and causing high light pollution.
The location of an observatory must be in a dark area and not have many clouds. Because in areas where the light is very low, we can see twinkling stars in the sky.
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Collect website Bosscha Observatory, the light pollution component includes the luminescence of the night sky (sky glow) originates from excess artificial light such as the many lights above residential areas and is reflected upward and scattered by aerosols such as clouds or small particles such as pollutants into the atmosphere. There are more, glare or glare the result of the visual sensation a person experiences when the light strays more than the light the eye can adapt to.
There is also a confusing and bright grouping of light sources (clutter) as well as light trespass otherwise known as light overflow, namely light falling where it is not needed. Along with that, BRIN has prepared a land area of 40 hectares for the needs of National Observation Timau and cost Rp 340 billion.
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Obnas Timau will later consist of the Obnas Science Center and Operations Building, Control Laboratories I, II, and III, and the Open Science Center (OSC) Building. In addition, there is also a Mechanical Laboratory and Space Observation Laboratory.
Seimei telescope
A number of sophisticated facilities for the needs of observing celestial objects are embedded in Obnas Timau such as an optical telescope with a diameter of 3.8 meters or the largest in Southeast Asia, a survey telescope with a diameter of 50 centimeters and a solar telescope with a diameter of 30 cm. For the 3.8 meter optical telescope as quoted from NHK Worldmade by BRIN astronomers in collaboration with Kyoto University, managing the Okayama Observatory, Japan.
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One of the parties involved is Kyoto University astronomy professor Kurita Mikio, who built the Seimei telescope at the Okayama Observatory and is the largest in the East Asian region. Mikio also designed a similar telescope for Obnas Timau.
Later, when it is officially operational, the telescopes at Obnas Timau will be used to monitor the northern and southern skies because they are located in the equator. According to Rhorom Priyantianto, researcher from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency Research Center, in a discussion, Tuesday (11/7/2023), as quoted from website the agency, the climatic conditions on the island of Timor also support astronomers to observe the sky every night for more than half a year if Obnas Timau operates.
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Rhorom explained, the current development was the process of installing a 3.8 meter telescope which had arrived from Japan in June 2023 and was brought to Timau using several trucks. Following that, the mirror telescope was sent to Kupang and it is targeted that in August 2023 it will be fully installed and the process of adjusting the system and testing the telescope will be continued (first light) to the star which takes several months.
The 3.8 meter optical telescope has a unique design and weighs no more than 20 tons. There are primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors. A cobweb-like structure is made to support the secondary mirror at the top of the telescope.
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The primary mirror in the form of a hyperbola consists of 18 segments in the form of flower petals and the secondary mirror in the form of a hyperbola has a diameter of 1 meter and can move 5 degrees. Tertiary mirror to direct light to a point of focus on the camera on the side of the telescope.
The optical system is active on the basic structure of the ring-shaped primary mirror support. The telescope is mounted on a concrete stand. This telescope is equipped with recording instruments, namely 3OPTIKA and NIRK photometric cameras.
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“One of the instruments in the 3.8 m telescope called 3OPTIKA is a 3-bands imaging camera. This telescope can be used to observe objects such as small solar system objects, stars, star clusters, extrasolar planets, galaxies, and others,” said Rhorom.
After going through a series of telescope tests for several months while Obnas Timau was operating, in 2024 an evaluation of preparations for receiving observation proposals from both internal and external BRIN will be carried out.
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Dark Sky Park
Meanwhile, Head of the Space Research Center Emmanuel Sungging Mumpuni said that one of the efforts to anticipate light pollution disturbances is to turn the area around Obnas into a Dark Sky Park (Dark Sky Park).Dark Sky Park). “The dark sky needs to be preserved with the support of the people who help protect it through astronomy tours at the Dark Sky Park,” he said.
One of them is to regulate the use of external lights around Obnas in coordination with the regional government and the central government. He also invited other stakeholders to collaborate in preparing a strategy for preventing light pollution and pushing for an umbrella of legal regulations to protect the area around Obnas Timau.
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He hopes that in the future the Timau National Observatory area can become an astronomical tourism object and help the local economy. Apart from scientific interests, the presence of Obnas Timau can be used to monitor man-made celestial bodies such as satellites or research space objects that could endanger the security of Indonesia’s territory. ***
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2023-07-24 00:50:00
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