The feasibility study of Barus city as the new astrotourism destination from astronomical and meteorological aspect

Abstract

Astrotourism is a tourist activity that shows attractions in the form of astronomical phenomena and outer space. Astrotourism activities that can be carried out by tourists are such as studying and exploring astronomical phenomena such as eclipses, meteor showers, and so on in the conditions of the night sky. An important condition for the advancement of astrotourism in an area is that the area has dark skies that are characterized by no severe light pollution and had adequate atmospheric conditions such as at least clouds covering the sky so that celestial objects can be observed properly, temperature, humidity, wind speed. and good rainfall so that visitors or tourists can comfortably be at astronomical tourist sites for a long time. We’ve done collecting atmospheric data using portable weather station and sky brightness data using Unihedron Sky Quality Meter LU-DL type device from July 10th - 11th 2021 and we collected data from windy.com for atmospheric particle content and cloud coverage during those dates. The results showed that Barus can become a new potential astrotourism destination specifically in Northern Sumatera or broadly in Indonesia where the Light pollution in Barus city is quite low, with a maximum value of brightness sky of 21.6, 20.8, and 21.8 MPSAS for the east, zenith, and west directions, respectively; Atmospheric conditions are quite good with an average temperature of 25.9 °C, the humidity of 89.2%, wind speed of 2.07 km/h, rainfall of 33.1 mm, amount of particles in the atmosphere 0.13 AOD and heat index of 27.2 °C Future study is needed from other aspects to make Barus become a new astrotourism destination in Indonesia.

The Role of Astronomy Tourism in Promoting Egypt

“…To be accredited as a destination suitable for astronomy tourism. The destination must meet certain requirements such as high elevation, vast amounts of space, the observer's position, the percentage of clear skies, weather conditions in the form of wind and temperature, Sky transparency, laws and regulations regulating such activity, infrastructure accessibility, risk factors, and suitable costs, providing sky darkness which is characterized by no light pollution and suitable atmospheric conditions, including average annual cloud coverage, so that celestial objects can be seen (Li, 2021;Butar-Butar et al, 2022).…”

Penentuan Awal Waktu Subuh Menggunakan Kamera DSLR dan Metode Moving Average

“…Keadaan langit masih cukup gelap tanpa gangguan cuaca dan awan. Penelitian sebelumnya juga pernah mengambil data kecerlangan langit di barus menggunakan SQM dan mendapatkan hasil 21,6 MPSAS untuk langit timur [2].…”

Analyzing the strength of novelty and meaningfulness in astrotourism experiences: the mediating role of hedonism

“…Astrotourism is a tourist product of special interest which is growing in demand and refers to tourist experiences centered on the observation of celestial phenomena in territories that are not necessarily remote but have unpolluted skies (naturally or because of a light pollution mitigation strategy), adequate climate and atmospheric conditions most of the year, for specific tourist activities related to this type of tourism offer (Butar-Butar, 2022; Rodrigues, 2020; Soleimani et al , 2019). Most destinations developing astrotourism in 2022 are certified by Foundation Starlight or International Dark Sky Association, two international institutions that have been supporting destinations to mitigate light pollution and develop intelligent lighting strategies (IDA, 2022; Starlight Foundation, 2022a).…”