Asia's largest optical telescope at Devasthal

MUMBAI: Asia's largest optical telescope will be set up at Devasthal near Nainital and will be a multinational effort with participation from Belgium, Russia and several Indian institutes.

The 3.6 metre optical telescope will cost Rs 120 crore and will be a state-of-the-art system with capability of fast motions to study the universe, Ram Sagar, Director, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) said. He was delivering a lecture on "Recent Advances in Optical Astronomy" at Nehru Planetarium here on Saturday.

It will have a RC Cassegrain focus. The final focus of the telescope will be around f/9. The telescope will have an alt-azimuth mounting. It will be housed in a modern building designed to minimise seeing degradation.

Also it will be installed at a height of about 12-m from the ground so as to obtain optimal seeing, he said. It was mainly a Department of Science and Technology project, he said.

Elaborating on the various optical telescopes in the country and abroad, he said although Europe is planning for a 42-metre telescope and some other group of astronomers aiming at 100-metre telescopes, in Asia, the Devasthal facility (55 km from Nainital) will be largest.

This will be a turn-key project with contributions from Belgium, Russia and Indian institutes like ARIES, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Institute of Astronoy and Astrophysics.