Telescopes in India
Today in this article we will learn about telescopes in India. I had no idea about the number of impressive telescopes India owned. Neither there was a website offering a list; I found more than ten after researching, and all of them are really impressive. You will be surprised we will talk about a mystery telescope at the end. This telescope is a bit mysterious. Let’s get started.
High Altitude Gamma Ray Observatory, Ladakh
First comes High Altitude Gamma Ray Observatory (HAGAR), located in Hanle, Ladakh, and has 7 telescopes. They are arranged in a 50-meter radius. There is 1 telescope in between the six. The total area of the mirrors is 4.4 sq m. Operated by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Indian Institute of Astronomy (IIA). Prime targets include active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray pulsars. In this list, TIFR has contributed to many telescopes in India.
Himalayan Chandra Telescope, Ladakh
This telescope is neighbouring HAGAR. Located on Mt. Saraswati, 4500 m above sea level. Operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore. It has a 2-meter mirror and can be remotely operated by IIA.
Vainu Bapu Observatory, Tamil Nadu
Located in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, William Petrie had setup an observatory here; it was later shifted to Kodaikanal, which itself is one of the legendary telescopes in India. It is 725 meters above sea level. It has 3 telescopes: one is a very big 2.3 m telescope, the next is a 1 m Zeiss telescope, and another is a 1.3 m telescope. Vainu Bapu passed away before the construction was finished. The telescope was named in his honour. This telescope is not only impressed by its size but also by its discoveries as well. It contributed to finding atmosphere on Ganymede, Jupiter‘s largest moon. Ganymede is also our solar system‘s biggest moon. It contributed to finding rings around Uranus, helped in finding thin rings around Saturn, and found a minor planet, which was named 4130 Ramanujan. The Ramanujan telescope was not only impressed by its size but discoveries as well.
Girawali Observatory, Near Pune
located near Junnar, 80km away from Pune, almost 1 km above sea level. Controlled by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, which is a collection of universities They have a foreign-made 2 m telescope. Not well known, just like other telescopes mentioned, it can be used by other scientists as well.
Mount Abu Infrared Observatory, Rajasthan
Located on a mountain adjacent to GuruShikar Operated by ISRO. They have 3 telescopes: a 2.3 m infrared (IR) telescope, a 50 cm telescope for comet study, and a 1 m telescope for tracking space junk. It has its own liquid nitrogen generation plant to keep its instruments cool. Its biggest discovery was an Indian planet. It was found in Kepler’s epic constellation, a very impressive telescope maintained by ISRO.
Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences, Nainital
It’s operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences located in Devasthal, Nanital. They have 2 telescopes, one of which is a huge 3.6 m telescope. Try measuring it to see the size of the mirror; the other telescope is 1.3 m. It was constructed by India, Belgium, and Russia. Although India paid the majority, it cost 120 crore rupees to make.
OOTY Cosmic Ray Lab (GRAPES-3)
It is the world’s largest muon telescope. Controlled by TIFR and Osaka University Japan. Mouns are formed when cosmic rays hit Earth’s atmosphere. Muons are very unstable and need to be observed very quickly. It consists lots of very small telescopes and instruments. They collect a lot of data.
Udaipur Solar Observatory, Rajasthan
It’s located on a manmade lake on Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur. Controlled by the Department of Space and ISRO, they have a 50 cm telescope and offer their own PhDs like some others on this list. Since it’s in the water and faces less air turbulence. Water absorbs a lot of heat.
Gouribidanur Radio Observatory, Karnataka
Located in Bangalore, operated by Raman Research Center. It’s a decameter telescope, which means 100 dipoles are arranged in a T configuration. Made specially to study the sun and sky at low frequencies.
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, Pune
This is one of the most impressive telescopes in India. Both sizes and discoveries are big and located in Narayangaon, 80 km away from Pune. Operated by the National Centre for Radio Astronomy and TIFR, they have 30 telescopes, with each having 45 meters of diameter. It helped collect live data of ESA’s Schiaparelli rover landing on Mars. It was just an experiment. The Rover’s antenna was only powerful enough to transmit to its own satellite, but GMRT could pick up its signal; it’s so sensitive. It has done a lot of observations along with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. It has been featured in many research papers; scientists across the world use it like many in this list. It recently found the world’s farthest radio galaxy.
OOTY Radio Telescope, Tamil Nadu
One of the most unique radio telescopes in India. It is 530 meters long with a 30 m parabolic antenna. It is located on a hill with an 11-degree natural slope, and also the latitude of the area is 11, which is why it can track and observe an object for almost 10 hours continuously. It is the most sensitive radio telescope of India.
Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, Tamil Nadu
This is a pure legend. The oldest observatory in the world, more than 100 years old, is maintained by IIA. They have 4 telescopes: a 60 cm, a 20 cm, a h-alpha telescope, and a twin telescope. It can take multiple images, like white images, hydrogen spectrum images, and full-disc images. It has more than 100 years of solar data. It is a goldmine of data.
Nizamia Observatory, Hyderabad
Located in Hyderabad, it had a refractor telescope and another one in some other place. It participated in NASA’s astronomical sky survey. The sad thing is it’s almost dead. The other one is poorly maintained; students have to go to other states for learning, and faculty also has reduced. was the only university with its own telescope.
ISRO Astrosat, Space
The most unique space telescopes in India. It can collect data in multiple wavelengths at once, depending on the screen. It confirmed findings from a supernova that was observed. It confirmed elements like gold and iron are formed in supernovas. It collects 420 GB worth of data. Astrosat 2 will also be proposed to be launched.
Instruments of Astrosat:
- UV telescope
- Soft X-ray telescope
- Large area X-ray Proportional counter
- A cadmium Hard X-ray imager
- Scanning sky monitor
- Charged particle monitor