After Mars, telescopes parts lost in space

After Mars, telescopes parts lost in space

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Euphoria at Mars' closest encounter with Earth quickly turned
sour for management of the astronomical observatory center
Planetarium in the Ismail Marzuki art center in Cikini, Central
Jakarta, as they realized on Thursday morning that essential
parts of two telescopes were missing.

The missing parts included a 40-centimeter long Starfinder
telescope and an eyepiece. Both parts were allegedly looted by an
angry mob, who had turned violent after waiting their turn to
gaze at the fourth planet in the Milky Way galaxy on Wednesday
night.

"Those devices are imported and we can't continue our research
activities without them," said Sugiarto, a staff member of the
center, as quoted by Detik.com news portal.

The telescope of Takasaki brand is imported from Japan.

The missing parts were mostly from the largest telescope. The
Planetarium only has three telescopes: two small and one big.

"A mirror, which was part of the largest telescope, was also
gone," said Sugiarto, calling for those who took the parts to
return them to the center.

"The devices are hard to procure as we cannot purchase them
separately but only in a complete package," he said.

However, the incident was not reported to the Menteng Police
subprecinct. Police officers only arrived at the site after
journalists told them about the missing equipment.

According to Sugiarto, his office will evaluate whether or not
they will have an observation session in September.

The Planetarium opens to the public for six days in a month.

Thousands of stargazers packed the Planetarium to see Mars at
its closest proximity to the Earth. It is usually a calm place,
where visitors can contemplate the intricacies of the universe
with a handful of others. Astronomers say that the natural
phenomenon previously happened some 60,000 years ago and will
repeat in another 205 years.

Wildly impatient visitors smashed the glass panels of the
building and entered the premises to take turns at gazing at the
rare sight.

The management had prepared a 54-inch screen television set so
that the planet could be seen by all visitors, as captured by the
telescope. But how could they have anticipated that the seemingly
peaceful preoccupation would turn into a frenzied kerfuffle for
one of the best views in the city?

They sorely regret police personnel weren't employed to
safeguard the event.