Princess Sirindhorn Astropark
Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It functions as the headquarters for the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and home to the largest planetarium and astronomy exhibition complex in Thailand.
AstroPark is the center of Thailand’s only astronomy research institute where many researchers and engineers work tirelessly to improve upon the country’s astronomy, optics, atmospheric science, and space program. Many state-of-the-art facilities are situated within the AstroPark complex, such as the control center over the Thai Robotic Telescope network, spacecraft monitoring station, engineering and fabrication laboratories, clean room for development of new optics, radio receivers, spacecraft assembly, a mirror coating machine for upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array project, High-Performance Computing, etc.
The exhibition and planetarium building of AstroPark serves as the home of NARIT’s public outreach program. The Astro Park, along with its 4 regional observatories for the public, receives over half a million visitors annually. The observatories for the public hosted over 40,000 visitors in a calendar year. These outreach infrastructures serve as the main anchor point for NARIT’s even larger and more comprehensive outreach program which services over a million participants combined every year.
Thai National Radio Observatory (TNRO)
Situated within an hour drive of AstroPark is Southeast Asia’s largest eyes in the sky. The Thai National Radio Observatory (TNRO) houses the largest radio telescope in the region at 40m diameter along with its sister 13m VGOS telescope. These state-of-the-art facilities allow astronomers to study the universe in details otherwise invisible to the human eye, day or night, rain or shine.
Thai National Observatory (TNO)
The 2.4m and 1m telescopes at the Thai National Observatory (TNO) on Doi Inthanon are the two largest optical telescopes located in Southeast Asia. Its location above the planetary boundary layer and far from large cities allow astronomers to observe the night sky with minimal interruptions.
Doi Inthanon National Park
At 2,565 m above sea level, Doi Inthanon claims the highest peak of Thailand. It is also home to diverse fauna and flora, and giant waterfalls that call this cloud forest home.
Peaking above the clouds and far from light pollution, Inthanon offers one of the most pristine night sky available. Participants will get to spend many nights observing and learning how to use telescope under this spectacles of the night sky.
