India’s largest solar telescope to be ready by 2013

The country’s largest solar telescope being developed by Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore will begin providing high- resolution images of the solar surface to aid research activities by 2013.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics’ Founders’ Day Lecture in Bangalore, Institute Director S Siraj Hasan said the solar telescope, which will be remotely controlled, would be having an aperture of 2 metres in diameter.

A team of 30 to 40 scientists is working on the development of the telescope worth Rs 1.5 billion that is expected to be ready by 2013. The Institute is collaborating with Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences in Nainital to develop the telescope, he said.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics is also in the process of identifying a suitable location to station the telescope. “It will be either at Leh or Hanle, both in Ladakh, or in Devasthal near Nainital”, he said.

The telescope will be located in a place, where the air is thin, far away from city lights and pollutants, Professor of Indian Institute of Astrophysics R C Kapoor said. “Ideally, it would have to be in a place that is 13,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level”, he said.

With a two-metre diameter aperture, the solar telescope being developed by India will be the largest in its class in the world. The US is also planning the development of a four-meter solar telescope that is expected to become functional by 2016.