Institut Teknologi Bandung

This colloquium discussed the development of students’ soft and hard skills through research and community service activities at the Bosscha Observatory. The material presented at this event was delivered by Bosscha Observatory researchers based on their respective fields of expertise.

As one of the research centers organized by ITB, the Bosscha Observatory always strives to advance science by conducting various astronomical activities. Each of these activities requires the involvement of multiple parties who are also astronomy-oriented, especially students. As such, the Bosscha Observatory continues to motivate students from the Astronomy Study Program to engage in said activities. By actively participating, students are expected to gain experience and implement the knowledge they have learned in lectures.

The colloquium also discussed several upcoming activities that would necessitate the involvement of Astronomy Study Program students. The first activity involves the operation of the Zeiss Telescope and the introduction of the Koeppel Building. Training for this activity is planned to take place in July–August this year. Other activities already scheduled for training include an introduction to technical matters related to the Zeiss telescope, telescope and building maintenance, instrumentation, and observation.

“At the Bosscha Observatory, we need students who are not only curious about telescopes but also about the building and how to use the Zeiss telescope,” stated Satrio, Bosscha Observatory Research Assistant.

The second activity is the modeling of the lunar occlusion light curve using the Bayesian Inference method. The same method has only been employed by two people in Southeast Asia, one of whom is Agus T. P. Jatmiko of the Bosscha Observatory. Perfecting the model requires further research, so students are encouraged to be involved. A number of occultation phenomena in 2024 must be observed to obtain the data needed for model testing.

“Our focus in 2024 is observation. We need a lot of manpower for observation since there will be many occlusion events in 2024,” he said.

The third activity is crescent moon observation. This activity is part of the annual hilal observation to determine the start of Ramadan. Its main objective is to pinpoint the threshold of lunar visibility parameters as well as develop an observation method to increase crescent moon visibility.

Crescent moon observations have several challenges, such as difficult observation conditions, low contrast due to the atmosphere, unfavorable weather conditions, and the special techniques needed.

The fourth activity involves a community service program by the Bosscha Observatory, which is to be realized in several programs. In general, these programs can be categorized into the development of human resources, educational materials, and astronomy communication. Specifically for the human resources segment, the programs will also comprise further training and development for students, alumni, teachers, and educational facilitators. The purpose of this community service activity is to communicate astronomy to society in the realization of the Tridharma (lit. three teachings) of higher education.

“As Anna Roe once said, ‘Nothing in science has any value to society if it is not communicated,’” concluded Yatny Yulianty, Bosscha Observatory Researcher.

Reporter: Hanifa Juliana (Urban and Regional Planning ‘20)
Translator: Ariq Ramadhan Teruna (Chemical Engineering ‘21)
Editor: Hanifa Juliana (Urban and Regional Planning ‘20)