Bosscha Observatory

Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, about 15 kilometres north of Bandung, is the oldest astronomical observatory in Indonesia, perched at 1,310 metres in the West Javan highlands. It was founded in 1923 by the Netherlands Indies Astronomical Society and named after Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha, a tea plantation owner whose patronage funded much of its construction. Now operated by the Bandung Institute of Technology, the observatory remains scientifically active, with its 1928 Zeiss double refractor still used for binary star research. Evening public sessions allow visitors to observe the southern sky through the historic telescopes — a rare chance to combine colonial-era architecture with hands-on astronomy.