Telescopes for Indonesia

Last week end, by random chances i have an opportunity to see the technical preparation of forthcoming 2nd International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2008, which will be held in Bandung, around August 2008. Lucky for me, even so i am not part of the team of telescope for IOAA 2008, but the team were kind enough to give me an opportunity to sneak-peek of what was inside.

Photometry, The Art of Astronomy

Like many subject of sciences, study on astronomy depend on measurement. But, unlike any other branch of science, measurement on astronomy is quiet intricate, since in astronomy, measurement is dealing with the light, per se. In astronomy, object under investigation is the heaven bodies, such as variable stars, minor planets, extra-galaxies, supernovae, or extrasolar planets, as the name for fews contemporary objects in astronomy.

If the objects under investigation is within our grasp, we can measure the length, the weight, the heat, etc. But objects of astronomy are far far beyond our reach, so the question is how do we measure the objects? How far is the object of investigation from us? How old, how hot, how large, how do we know what is that?

The First Indonesian’s Star Party & Universe Awareness – The Next Step

The Southern Sky Astronomy Gathering 2007 was conducted on 25th-26th of August in Stasiun Pengamat Dirgantara LAPAN (Pamulihan, Sumedang West Java). It was an event which the first time enabled astronomy goers from all around Indonesia to gather & share experiences on astronomy activities. The purpose of this activity was to give people an opportunity to learn more about astronomy and to raise public enthusiasm.

Many astronomy activities were carried out which catered for a wide range of ages, interests and backgrounds. Hopefully this step will be the beginning of astronomy popularization and awareness in Indonesia.