Viet Nam will open its first ever astronomical observatory in Nha Trang next March, according to the Viet Nam National Satellite Centre (VNSC). — Photo hungyentv.vn

Viet Nam will open its first ever astronomical observatory in Nha Trang next March, according to the Viet Nam National Satellite Centre (VNSC).

The observatory is built on a rocky area called Hon Chong in Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha Trang City. It is in the finishing stage and will be ready by the Tet holiday (Lunar New Year) in late January for a pilot run before the official opening scheduled in March next year.

VNSC Director Pham Anh Tuan said a space telescope, 0.5m in diameter, will be installed inside a dome that is 9m in diameter. The dome can accommodate up to 60 people who come to observe space or watch movies about planets, stars and the history of the Earth.

The Hon Chong observatory is one of the two observatory projects in Viet Nam, costing a total of VND20 billion (US$5.3 million). The other one was under construction inside the Viet Nam Space Museum in Ha Noi’s Hoa Lac High-Tech Park.

Both the observatory and the museum will open for visitors in mid 2018.

The two observatories and the museum are part of the VNSC project – the largest national scientific project in the country, so far, with investment reaching $600 million. — VNS