Thai National Observatory
With its modern facilities and excellent sky visibility, this observatory attracts numerous astronomers and researchers from around the world, who come to collect data and conduct astronomical research for no fewer than 200 nights per year. Although the National observatory's primary objective is astronomical research, NARIT also offers the general public the opportunity to visit during the annual National Observatory Open House events.
National Telescope with a 2.4-meter Diameter
The Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope has a 2.4-meter diameter mirror, making it the largest and most modern in Southeast Asia. The telescope comprises multiple mirrors made from borosilicate glass, which has a low expansion rate when the surrounding temperature changes. The mirror surface is coated with aluminum. The telescope's complex structure can accommodate up to 8 channels for attaching astronomical data collection instruments.
1-Meter Diameter Telescope
A telescope for astronomical research and academic services, capable of providing the best views of planets and celestial objects in Thailand.
Telescope Control Room
The workplace for astronomers and astronomical technicians, where they command and control the operation of the 2.4-meter and 1-meter telescopes, as well as the telescope domes. This is done through the telescope control system developed by engineers from NARIT's Observatory Operations and Engineering Center.
Scientific Instruments
Focal Reducer
Field flattener or focal reducer enhances the capability for wide-field sky observation, providing a fully efficient view. When used with a 4K CCD camera, it can capture images with an unobstructed 15 arcminute field of view (previously limited to 7 arcminutes). With a 4K camera having an image scale of 0.42 arcseconds per pixel, it achieves a resolution of 1.2 arcseconds in the 400-800 nanometer wavelength range.
ULTRASPEC
A high-speed imaging device capable of capturing images at millisecond-level speeds, recording approximately 200 frames per second. Due to its high sensitivity, it can capture low-light celestial objects and quickly occurring astronomical events such as stellar scintillation, stellar occultations by planets, and lunar occultations of stars. It was created and developed by the University of Sheffield and the University of Warwick.
MRES
Medium-Resolution Echelle Spectrograph (MRES) is a spectrograph that uses fiber optics to inject light from the telescope into the spectrograph installed in a stable and temperature-controlled room separated from the moving telescope. It is designed for observation of sources with the visible magnitudes V < 14 mag in the wavelength region 367-1000 nm with an average resolving power of R = 15,000-20,000. MRES was built by Nanjing Institute of Optics and Technology (China) and NARIT
LRS
Low-Resolution Spectrograph (LRS) is a long-slit spectrograph with high sensitivity suitable for general astronomical purposes. It can observe objects as faint as V = 19 mag in 1 hour. The wavelength coverage is 400-800 nm and the spectral resolving power is R = 250-750. LRS can be used either in a slitless mode, or with 2 or 5 arcsec slit. LRS is designed and developed by NARIT's Optics and Photonics Technology Development Center
ARC 4K
A high-resolution 4K imaging device with 16 million pixels. It is equipped with a large chip and filters for various light wavelength ranges, making it suitable for astronomical research and capturing high-resolution images of celestial objects.
EXOhSPEC (Under construction)
The EXOhSPEC, or Exoplanet high-resolution spectrograph, is an Echelle-type spectrograph designed for studying extrasolar planets, utilizing the principle of high-resolution slit spectroscopy. It can be employed with both small and large telescopes. The spectrograph has a resolving power exceeding 70,000, with more than 30 pixels separation between spectral lines in each order. The optical fibers used for light input into the spectrograph are dual-headed, enhancing observational accuracy. EXOhSPEC is developed and designed by NARIT and Center for optics and photonics. (Under construction)
Call for Proposal
Please check out the following link: https://indico.narit.or.th/event/226/
Want to visit?
Please check out the "TNO Open House" event:
TNO Open House