Uttarakhand Governor felicitates astronomers, encourages young scientists at commemoration of 50 years of telescope

Source: The post is based on the article “Uttarakhand Governor felicitates astronomers, encourages young scientists at commemoration of 50 years of telescope” published in PIB on 21st October 2022.

What is the News?

Uttarakhand Governor felicitated scientists at a workshop organized to commemorate the completion of 50 years of successful operations of the Sampurnanand Telescope (ST).

What is the Sampurnanand Telescope(ST)?

The 104-cm Sampurnanand Telescope(ST) is located at ARIES, Manora Peak, Nainital (Uttarakhand).

It was established in 1972 when ARIES was known as the UP State Observatory (UPSO). 

Purpose: The telescope has been extensively used for optical observations of comets, occultation by planets and asteroids, star-forming regions and star clusters, variable stars, transients, and active galactic nuclei among others.

Achievements: Some of the breakthrough science results contributed by the telescope include 1) Discovery of rings of Uranus, 2) First detection of optical afterglows of GRBs, 3) Micro-lensing event from Indian soil and 4) Discovery of quakes in a half dozen of stars under “The Nainital-Cape Survey” the one of the longest and unique ground-based survey initiated jointly at the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Significance: The instrumentation and science capabilities of ST have paved the way for setting up National and International facilities by ARIES, such as the 3.6m DOT and the 4 meter International Liquid Mirror Telescope at Devasthal.