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Thai National Observatory (TNO) is in
* 0.5-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain robotic telescope. This is similar to the type used at NARIT's regional observatories. It is used for training and education, testing new instrumentation and techniques, supporting the main telescope, and research that does not require the use of the main telescope.
* 2k x 2k CCD photometer with an BVRI filter system
* A research-grade 4k x 4k CCD photometer with an BVRI filter system
* A high-resolution
Doi Inthanon National Park
Doi Inthanon National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยอินทนนท์), nicknamed "the roof of Thailand", is in the Thanon Thong Chai Range, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. It i ...
, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province
Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province (''changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lam ...
, Thailand A top Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon, this observatory is part of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand or NARIT is a research institute under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Its main missions are to carry out, support, and promote the development of astronomy ...
, and is its main facility.
Facilities
The TNO has of two sections—the main observatory, and an auxiliary station lower on the mountain with offices and lodging for astronomers, facilities for public outreach activities (like school groups), and a small permanent exhibition for the public. Because the observatory is located in a national park, it was built to minimize environmental impact.Equipment
* 2.4-meter reflectingRitchey–Chrétien telescope
A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope (RCT or simply RC) is a specialized variant of the Cassegrain telescope that has a hyperbolic primary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror designed to eliminate off-axis optical errors (coma). The RCT has a wi ...
with altazimuth mount
An altazimuth mount or alt-azimuth mount is a simple two-axis mount for supporting and rotating an instrument about two perpendicular axes – one vertical and the other horizontal. Rotation about the vertical axis varies the azimuth (compass bea ...
, known as the Thai National Telescope (TNT). The telescope control system also controls movement of the dome automatically. The telescope itself was manufactured in Tucson, Arizona at EOS Technologies, Inc. (EOST). The primary mirror was fabricated and polished at the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) in Russia. It is the largest optical telescope in the region. The TNT is used for research by NARIT astronomers and visiting researchers.
* 0.5-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain robotic telescope. This is similar to the type used at NARIT's regional observatories. It is used for training and education, testing new instrumentation and techniques, supporting the main telescope, and research that does not require the use of the main telescope.
* 2k x 2k CCD photometer with an BVRI filter system
* A research-grade 4k x 4k CCD photometer with an BVRI filter system
* A high-resolution echelle spectrograph
An echelle grating (from French ''échelle'', meaning "ladder") is a type of diffraction grating characterised by a relatively low groove density, but a groove shape which is optimized for use at high incidence angles and therefore in high diffract ...
(scheduled for use in 2014)
References
Astronomical observatories in Thailand {{thailand-stub