A Unique Liquid-Mirror Telescope sees first light in the Indian Himalayas

What is the News?

India has commissioned an International Liquid Mirror Telescope(ILMT) in Devasthal, Uttarakhand.

What is the International Liquid Mirror Telescope(ILMT)?

Built by: Astronomers from India, Belgium and Canada.

Location: It is located at an altitude of 2450 meters at the Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Purpose: The telescope will help in surveying the sky, making it possible to observe several galaxies and other astronomical sources just by staring at the strip of sky that passes overhead. 

– For this, the telescope employs a 4-meter-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury to collect and focus light. 

Duration: The ILMT will operate every night for five years and carry out daily imaging except between June and August monsoon months, as a precaution to protect the instruments from humid conditions.

Significance:  It is the first liquid mirror telescope in the country and the largest in Asia.

Note: ILMT will be the third telescope to be operating from Devasthal after the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) — the largest in India commissioned in 2016 — and the 1.3-metre Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) inaugurated in 2010.

Source: The post is based on the article “A Unique Liquid-Mirror Telescope sees first light in the Indian Himalayas” published in PIB on 2nd June 2022.