Future astronomy facilities in Indonesia

Mumpuni, Emanuel Sungging; Puspitarini, L.; Priyatikanto, Rhorom; Yatini, Clara Y.; Mahasena, P.

doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0642-6

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…A study on Mesospheric gravity waves over a tropical convective region (Nakamura et al 2003;Moral et al 2019) can be a good example. Timau National Observatory was planned as a multi-purpose observatory where space weather research and monitoring are also part of its activities (Mumpuni et al 2018). Thus, OH airglow observation can be one of the strategies that can be contributed to international networks (e.g., Li et al 2021).…”

Section: Strategic Values Of the Timau Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, Indonesia is developing a new observatory in the East Nusa Tenggara Province to modernise the existing astronomical facilities and develop new ones (Mumpuni et al 2018). The site is situated at the Timau mountain (123.9471 • East, 9.5970 • South, 1300 masl), approximately 75 km northeast of Kupang, the central city on the island.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterisation of Timau National Observatory using limited in-situ measurements

Priyatikanto,

Mumpuni,

Hidayat

et al. 2022

Preprint

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A new astronomical observatory in southeastern Indonesia is currently under construction. This Timau National Observatory will host a 3.8-metre telescope for optical and near-infrared observations. To support the operation and planning, the characterisation of the site needs to be appropriately performed. However, limited resources and access to the site hindered the deployment of instruments for comprehensive site testing. Fortunately, in-situ sky brightness data from the Sky Quality Meter (SQM) have been available for almost two years. Based on the data acquired in 470 nights, we obtain a background sky brightness of 𝜇 0 = 21.86 ± 0.38 magnitude/arcsec 2 . Additionally, we evaluate the moonlit sky brightness to estimate the atmospheric extinction coefficient (𝑘) and level of scattering on site. We find an alleviated value of 𝑘 = 0.48 ± 0.04, associated with a high atmospheric aerosol content. It is considered regular for an equatorial area situated at a low altitude (∼1300 masl). By analysing the fluctuation of the sky brightness and infrared images from Himawari-8 satellite, we estimate the available observing time (AOT) of at least 5.3 hours/night and the yearly average percentage of usable nights of 66%. The monthly average AOT from SQM and satellite data analysis correlate with 𝑅 = 0.82. In terms of the monthly percentage of usable nights, the correlation coefficient is 𝑅 = 0.78. During the wet season (November-April), the results from SQM and satellite data analysis deviate more significantly, mainly due to the limited capability of Himawari-8 in detecting fragmented low-altitude clouds. According to these results, we expect Timau to complement other observatories greatly.

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Section: Strategic Values Of the Timau Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of Timau National Observatory using limited in-situ measurements

Priyatikanto,

Mumpuni,

Hidayat

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Meanwhile, there is also potential for collaboration between Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, which are currently developing radio telescopes. Indeed, in the near future, Indonesia has plans to construct several radio telescopes with one of them will be placed in Timau National Observatory (9°35' 50.2" S, 123°56' 48.5" E), East Nusa Tenggara (Mumpuni et al, 2018;Hidayat et al, 2022;Husna & Mumtahana, 2022). With the location around the equator where no VLBI antenna exists so far (Nurul Huda et al, 2021), Indonesia can play an essential role in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the location around the equator where no VLBI antenna exists so far (Nurul Huda et al, 2021), Indonesia can play an essential role in the future. Currently, modern astronomy facilities are being established at Timau National Observatory (Mumpuni et al, 2017(Mumpuni et al, , 2018. Mount Timau valley (altitude: 1532 m) has been chosen as a suitable observatory site based on its atmospheric condition in terms of clear sky fraction (Hidayat et al, 2012) and radio interference measurements (Hidayat et al, 2014;Sitompul et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential use of the 20-meter radio telescope planned at the Timau National Observatory

Mumtahana,

Nurul Huda,

Husna

et al. 2023

RoAJ

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"The importance of radio telescopes for astronomy, geodesy, and other disciplines has been demonstrated by the growing number of radio telescopes worldwide, including in South-East Asia. Timau National Observatory has also considered a radiotelescope development program, which is expected to contribute both on a national and global scale. The diameter for the single dish is planned to be around 20-meter with a frequency range of 1-50 GHz. This paper outlines potential research for the planned radio telescope as a single dish as well as a part of future interferometer/VLBI collaboration. We collected several studies conducted with single antenna with a diameter of around 20-meter as a comparison to study its potential use as a single dish. As it is also essential to consider using an interferometer network, we also examined its capability as a part of VLBI, including the UV coverage and object simulation. Finally, it can be concluded that many studies can be conducted using the 20-m radio telescope as a single dish. Its location slightly below the equator can also play an important role in completing the global VLBI network."

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“…The Timau National Observatory, which is a collaboration between LAPAN and ITB, Nusa Cendana University, the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Government, and the Kupang Regency Government, is currently under construction on the slopes of Mount Timau (9°35'50.2" S, 123°56'48.5" E), Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, with an altitude of about 1300 masl. Timau National Observatory will eventually have a 3.8-meter-diameter telescope facility [1]. This location was chosen because this area has a clear night sky fraction of roughly 60% throughout the year, making it one of Indonesia's clearest night sky areas [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Report on seeing, sky brightness, and meteorological properties measurements at Timau National Observatory site

Saputra¹,

Danarianto²,

Murti³

et al. 2022

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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With the existence of the Timau National Observatory, the site testing of the observatory location must be carried out to provide supporting data regarding the quality of the National Observatory site. Some site testing that needs to be done are seeing, sky brightness, and meteorological properties measurements. In this paper, the seeing and sky brightness measurements in July-August 2021 are presented. These measurements were conducted using the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) method with a 20 cm telescope and a Sky Quality Meter (SQM) respectively. From the results of these measurements, it was found that the site of Timau National Observatory has good seeing conditions with median of 0.92 arcseconds and most sky brightness values are around 22.02 magnitude per square arcsecond. The monitoring results of meteorological properties, such as air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction during August 2021 that recorded by an automatic weather station are also presented.

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Future astronomy facilities in Indonesia

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Characterisation of Timau National Observatory using limited in-situ measurements

Characterisation of Timau National Observatory using limited in-situ measurements

The potential use of the 20-meter radio telescope planned at the Timau National Observatory

Report on seeing, sky brightness, and meteorological properties measurements at Timau National Observatory site

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