The Lulin Observatory (,
obs. code:
D35) is an
astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
operated by the Institute of Astronomy,
National Central University in
Taiwan.
It is located at the summit of Mount Lulin in
Xinyi Township
Xinyi Township or Sinyi Township () is a Township (Taiwan), mountain indigenous township in Nantou County, Taiwan. It is the largest township by area of Nantou County. Xinyi is home to the Bunun people of the Taiwanese aborigines.
Geography
It h ...
,
Nantou County
Nantou County (; Hokkien POJ: ''Lâm-tâu-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Nàm-thèu-yen'') is the second largest county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives fro ...
. In 2007,
Comet Lulin
Comet Lulin (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin), Traditional Chinese:鹿林彗星) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory. It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observ ...
(C/2007 N3), was found by this observatory, and became the first comet discovered by a Taiwanese researcher. The minor planet
147918 Chiayi was also discovered here.
The Lulin 1 meter had its first light in September 2002, after 10 years of development.
Telescopes
* LOT Cassegrain telescope (D=1-m, f/8)
* SLT R-C telescope (D=0.40-m, f/8.8) by
RC Optical Systems or ''76-cm Super Light Telescope (SLT)''
* Four TAOS robotic telescopes (D=0.50-m, f/1.9)
Projects
*
Taiwanese–American Occultation Survey (TAOS)
* Lulin Emission Line Imaging Survey (LELIS)
*Exoearth Discovery & Exploration Network EDEN
Lulin Sky Survey (LUSS)
The Lulin Sky Survey searched for
near-Earth objects from 2006 to 2009.
[ The Lulin Sky Survey Telescope,]Ritchey–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 a field of view of 27 arcminutes
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...
, was operated remotely from mainland China, with robotic software developed in-house.[ In addition to searching for new objects, the survey refined the orbits of known minor planets and comets, and performed photometric analysis of a subset of objects.]Comet Lulin
Comet Lulin (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin), Traditional Chinese:鹿林彗星) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory. It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observ ...
. It made its closest approach to Earth in February 2009.[ The LUSS project benefited from its location at a longitude with few other observatories looking for minor planets.][
]
See also
* List of astronomical observatories
References
* W.S. Tsay, B. C. Chen, K.H. Chang, ''et al.'', 2001,
The NCU Lu-Lin Observatory
, in Proceedings of the IAU Colloquium 183 “Small-Telescope on Global Scales”, eds. W.P. Chen, C. Lemme, B. Paczynski, ASP.
External links
Official Website
*
Lulin Sky Survey (LUSS)
{{Astronomical_institutions_in_Taiwan
1999 establishments in Taiwan
Discoverers of comets
Astronomical observatories in Taiwan
National Central University
Buildings and structures in Chiayi County
Buildings and structures in Nantou County