Jakarta, IO – The Bosscha Observatory has finally reopened after three years of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. From Saturday (17/6), the public can return to visit the observatory located in Lembang, West Java.
According to an Instagram post by @bosschaobservatory, public visits are open every Saturday with a quota of 100 visitors per day. The entrance fee is Rp50,000. Visitors will be guided by the astronomers and educators at the observatory. To visit, would-be visitors must first register with the official website. Each group registration is for a maximum of five visitors.
The program will be divided into two sessions, from 8.30 am to 12 noon, each lasting 1 to 1.5 hours with a maximum of 50 visitors per session, per Katadata, Saturday (17/6).
The Bosscha Observatory was founded by Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha of the Nederlandsch-Indische Sterrenkundige Vereeniging (Netherlands Indies Star Association/NISV). The construction of this observatory was fueled by Karel Bosscha’s dream to build an observatory in the Dutch East Indies.
The observatory, formerly known as Bosscha Sterrenwacht, was completed and inaugurated on January 1, 1923. As a tribute to Karel Bosscha’s contribution, his name was immortalized as the name of the observatory.
At that time, Bosscha Sterrenwacht was the only modern observatory in Southeast Asia. The construction of the observatory is also the forerunner of Astronomy Education in Indonesia. On October 17, 1951, NISV officially handed over the observatory to the government of Indonesia.
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In 2004, the Bosscha Observatory was declared National Cultural Heritage, and in 2008 it was designated as a National Vital Object. It was only in 2017 that the Bosscha Observatory was designated as a National Cultural Heritage Building through the decree of the education and culture minister.
The observatory is still actively used by scientists and researchers from various countries. They visited Bosscha to make astronomical observations and to carry out astrophysical analysis. This building was also used as the setting of a handful of Indonesian films, such as The Adventures of Sherina and Satan’s Slave 2. (un)