• Thai students participated in Junior Session in the Astronomical Society of Japan 2008
• The 1st Science and Cultural Activity for Next Generation Khmer-Thai

Thai students participated in Junior Session in the Astronomical Society of Japan 2008

Learning Center for Earth Science and Astronomy (LESA) Learning Center for Earth Science and Astronomy (LESA) is funded by The Thailand Research Funds (TRF). LESA develop supporting curricula and activities for Thai school Earth science, astronomy and focus on hands – on astrophysics research. LESA established collaboration between the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment of the University of Michigan (ROTSE) to use its astronomical data for LESA research activities. ROTSE operates a network of four 0.45- meter robotics telescopes in Australia, USA, Namibia, and Turkey to study astrophysical transients. Our student research topic covers interdisciplinary studies of astrophysical transient phenomena, namely various types of variable stars, supernovae, and minor planets

In 2008, Astronomical Society of Japan organizes "Junior Session" in its semi-annual meeting period, 25 to 26 March 2008. Junior Session is a session for students in junior high schools and high schools. Our students are invited to oral and poster presentation Junior Session 2008 and their researches are published in English and Japanese language

Objective
 • Promote students' activities in study or research works of astronomy
 • Give an opportunity to experience the atmosphere of the most advanced astronomy
 • Make students feel the fascinating and interest aspects of astronomy.
 • Visit Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Gunma Astronomical Observatory
 • Use large telescopes and instruments to use its astronomical data for research activities

The 1st Science and Cultural Activity for Next Generation Khmer-Thai

Many archeological sites, such as, Pyramid in Egypt and Angkorian architecture - Prasat Phanom Rung. Their orientations align with north – south line or east – west line to relate with motion of celestial, the Sun and the Moon, etc.
Prasat Phanom Rung, one large stone castle in the northeast region of Thailand is Angkorian architecture. Constructed under the direction of the Khmer King, it was to serve as the monarch's personal mausoleum and as a temple to the Hindu god Vishnu. It was designed as a pyramid representing the structure of the universe: the highest level at the center of the temple represented Mount Meru, the home of the Hindu gods, with the five towers on the highest level representing the five peaks of the mountain. The broad moat around the complex represented the oceans that surround the world. However, the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun on the Earth’s equatorial bulge causes the Earth to precess. As the Earth precesses, its axis of rotation slowly traces out a circle in the sky. It takes 26,000 years for the north celestial pole to complete one full precessional circle around the sky. At the present the north celestial pole lies within 1° of the star Polaris, which is why Polaris is the North Star. But in the past, the celestial pole was closet to other star. For example, in 3000 B.C., the north celestial pole was closet to the star Thuban in the constellation of Draco, so the star Polaris was not the North in 3000 B.C We can study archeological sites’ orientation to calculate ages of those archeological sites with the tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation
	The purpose of the activity is understand Angkorian architecture that represent the structure of the universe, study the motion of the celestial sphere, use instruments to measure alignment of the Phanom Rung Stone Castle and study orientation to calculate ages of Phanom Rung Stone Castle with the north celestial pole in the past.
The 1st Science and Cultural Activity for Next Generation Khmer-Thai on 3 October 2007 32 Khmer-Thai students measure alignment 12 positions of the Phanom Rung Stone Castle. This activity reveled that The North of Castle lies 354° that relates the north celestial pole in the 1000 years ago. So it conclude that if the Phanom Rung Stone Castle align with east – west line to relate with motion of celestial, It should be built in the 11th century.