National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Public Organization) - NARIT
Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark 260 M.4, Don Kaew, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai 50180 Phone: +66 (0)53 121 268-9
Website www.narit.or.th
Activity
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 astrophysics in Thailand through research, public outreach, and educational activities.
Description
NARIT was first established in 2004 as NARI (National Astronomical Research Institute), a statutory government institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology, to commemorate Bhumibol Adulyadej's 80th birthday. On 27 December 2008, the status of NARIT was changed to a non-profit governmental public organization.
The Thai National Observatory (TNO) is NARIT's main facility, atop Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon in Doi Inthanon National Park, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province. In 2020, NARIT completed the construction of the Thai National Radio Telescope (TNRO), a 40m single-dish short-millimetre telescope in Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Study Centre at Doi Saket District in Chiang Mai Province
Thai National Observatory,
Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai
Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark
(bird eye view)
Planetarium, Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark
References:
1. Frontier Research at NARIT- 4 Key Sciences
1.1 Stellar Astrophysics
1.2 Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology
1.3 Cosmology and High Energy Physics
1.4 Near-earth Objects, Space Weather and Climate
2. National Infrastructures
2.1 Thai National Observatory – 2.4-m Thai National Telescope
2.2 Thai National Radio Observatory – 40-m Thai National Radio Telescope
2.3 13- m VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) Telescope for Geodesy
2.4 Thai Robotic Telescopes Network in Chile, China, USA and Australia
3. NARIT as part of Global Projects
3.1 Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) – providing mirror coating facility
3.2 Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) – developing Earth magnetic compensation coil
3.3 Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) – providing telescopes in the Canary Islands to investigate transient optical sources
3.4 Latitude Survey – joint study with PRC’s Antarctic expedition to investigate polar astronomy and operate neutron detector.
3.5 Event Horizon Telescope – operating James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as a member of East Asia Observatories (EAO)
4. In-house Technology Development
4.1 Optics and Photonics – spectroscopy, telescope design and coronagraph and adaptive optics
4.2 Radio Frequency and Digital Signal Laboratory – Thai National Radio Telescopes, instrumentation and geodesy development
4.3 Center of Observatory Operations and Engineering – mechatronics laboratory, highprecision machining laboratory
4.4 HPC and Data Science
4.5 Thai Space Consortium – a consortium of several institutes and universities in Thailand to build Thailand’s first research satellites with payloads.
5. Technology-driven Projects
5.1 Thin Film Technology – mirror coating facilities
5.2 Prosthesis Development – prosthetic limbs and hips
5.3 Medical Ventilator – developed during Covid-19 era
5.4 Scanning Electron Microscope 5.5 CCD Imager
Mirror Coating Facilities
Prosthesis as a spin-off from NARIT's High Precision Machining Lab
Ventilator Development for COVID-19