Jakarta –
For Indonesian astronomers, the name Thé Pik Sin is a legend. He is the first doctor in astronomy from this country.
Thé Pik Sin, who is familiarly called Pak Thé by Indonesian astronomers, led the Bosscha Observatory, Lembang, West Java, for almost a decade in the late 1950s.
Pak Thé was born in “Gudeg City” Yogyakarta in November 1927. His parents worked as traders. Initially trading in spices, he then switched to being a tobacco and batik businessman.
Quoted from the official Bosscha Observatory Instagram, Mr Thé completed elementary school at Hollandsch-Chineesche School met den Bijbel. After that, he continued his studies at HBS (Hogere Burger School), which was equivalent to middle school and high school.
During school, Mr Thé always communicated with his friends using Javanese even though his school used Dutch as the medium of instruction. While with his parents, he spoke Malay.
After completing his studies at HBS in 1949, he entered the ITB Electrical Engineering department which is still part of the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. His goals are simple. Pak Thé wants to become a trader like his parents, but specializes in selling electronic equipment.
“I want to become an electronic equipment trader,” said Thé to the Indonesian astronomer, Tri Laksmana Astraatmadja, who now works at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, United States.
Tri then wrote this story for the Langitselatan.com page and allowed detikedu to quote it some time ago.
However, Mr Thé’s life story did not match his expectations. He only studied for 1 year in the Electrical Engineering department. This man who was born in Yogyakarta then moved to the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences (FIPIA).
Pak Thé chose Astronomy as the main field of study and Physics and Mathematics as supporting fields of study.
The international character of the study of astronomy attracted his attention. This characteristic really allows him to carry out research abroad. Thé was one of the first batch of astronomy students at ITB and graduated in 1958.
As soon as he graduated, armed with a scholarship initiated by the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, he headed to Uncle Sam’s country to study for a doctorate at the Case Institute of Technology, Ohio (now Case Western Reserve University).
The research material utilized photographic plates taken by the Warner and Swasey Observatory, Ohio. The observatory is affiliated with the Case Institute.
He successfully completed the research and was entitled to a doctorate degree under the guidance of astronomer Victor M. Blanco. He was able to achieve this title within one year. He also officially became the first doctor of astronomy from Indonesia.
To Tri, he revealed the recipe for being able to get a doctorate in a relatively short time. One of the keys is hard work.
“I work hard and don’t waste time. I am also ready to face what will be required of a PhD student,” he said.
He continued, “Because I was the first person from Indonesia to be promoted to doctor of astronomy, I feel a great responsibility to maintain and foster astronomy in Indonesia.”
When he returned to Indonesia, Thé was immediately asked to become Director of the Bosscha Observatory. His first task was to install the optical components of the Milky Way’s Schmidt telescope.
This telescope is a donation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). According to Tri, the Schmidt telescope is a telescope with a wide field of view which allows astronomers to photograph a fairly large portion of the sky.
This telescope is suitable for conducting surveys and counting stars, in order to examine the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Thé’s activities increased when he was appointed Dean of FMIPA ITB in 1966. However, two years later he decided to move to the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands with the reason of developing his scientific career.
He then retired from his position as professor of astronomy in 1993. For his services to science in 1993, the Kingdom of the Netherlands awarded him the title of knight, namely Officier in the Oranje-Nassau Order of Knights (Orde van Oranje-Nassau).
Thé Pik Sin died on 25 July 2017 at the age of 89 in the Netherlands. An asteroid was named 5408 Thé (1232 T-1) in his honor.
(pal/gas)
2024-02-10 10:00:42
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