Lulin Observatory

Introduction

The NCU (National Central University) Lulin Observatory is located at Mt. Front LuLin, 120° 52' 25" E and 23° 28' 07" N, a 2862-m peak (Fig. 1) in the Yu-Shan National Park. The fundamental construction of Lulin Observatory was finished on January 14, 1999. The construction of the Control Center is finished in 2002. From then on, there are more than 10 internaltional referred papers, more than 30 of conference papers and about 70 circulars, which cover different fields of astronomy and astrophysics, were published. Several outstand research projects has also been carried out and have some important results. For example, East-Asia GRB Follow-up Observation Network (EAFON) project observed the optical afterglow of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) since July, 2003, and 15 observations were successfully conducted. In addition, the Taiwan Supernovae Survey made use of the Lulin One-meter Telescope, and found 15 supernovae in the past few years.

There are many "first" records had been made in Lulin Observatory over the past centenary Taiwanese astronomical history:

• The first discovery of asteroid
• The first discovery of supernova
• The first discovery of comet
• The first discovery of Near Earth Object (NEO)
• The first permanent nominztion for a discovered asteroid

The niches of Lulin Observatory are the unique geographical position and flexible time of the small telescopes. The observation capability for part of the southern sky enriches the competency for the Observatory. At current stage, the major facilities are Lulin One-meter Telescope (LOT), 4 sets of 0.5 m telescopes (TAOS project), 0.4 meter of Lulin Sky Survey Telescope (LSST), and Lulin Emission Line Imaging Survey projects. Besides, Lulin Observatory also sustains some scientific facilities, such as ELF detection system and groundbase observatrion for the sprites (NCKU), all sky observations for airglow emissions (Space Science Institute, NCU), and Lulin Atmosphere Background Station (LABS) (EPA).

Current Projects

• Taiwan-America Occultation Survey (TAOS)
• Lulin Emission Line Imaging Survey (LELIS)
• Low mass X-ray binary sources
• Observations for comets and asteroids
• Taiwan supernova survey project
• Gamma ray burst and the optical afterglow
• Observations related to Pan-STARRS project
• Groundbased observations for sprites and ELF detection system
• Impact study of the long-range transport of air pollutants on air quality in Taiwan
• Groundbased airglow imager and Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightnings (ISUAL) of FORMOSAT-2 by Institute of Space Science, NCU