India gets world’s first liquid-mirror telescope; What is it? How will it work?
The key nations that have worked to establish the ILMT are India, Belgium, Canada, Poland, and Uzbekistan. The Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and the Centre Spatial de Liège in Belgium developed and built the telescope. The financing, expected to be in the region of Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore, was supplied jointly by Canada and Belgium. This telescope's operations and maintenance will be handled by India.
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FollowIn early 2022, India's first liquid-mirror telescope saw its first light as it stared towards the zenith from the Devasthal observatory in Uttarakhand, observing asteroids, supernovae, space debris, and all other celestial objects at a height of 2,450 metres in the Himalayas.
What is the liquid-mirror telescope?
The unique gadget, created by astronomers from India, Belgium, and Canada, uses a 4-meter-diameter spinning mirror consisting of a thin coating of liquid mercury to gather and concentrate light. It is located at an elevation of 2450 metres on the Devasthal Observatory site of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an independent institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India in Nainital, Uttarakhand.
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The three nations' experts spun a pool of mercury, a reflective liquid, so that the surface curved into a parabolic form that is excellent for focussing light. Wind is kept at bay by a thin translucent mylar layer. Reflected light is processed by a powerful multi-lens optical corrector, which creates clear pictures across a wide field of vision. The photos are captured by a large-format electronic camera situated at the focus.
The ILMT will be the third telescope facility to be built at Devasthal, one of the world's most pristine locations for astronomical studies. With the ILMT expected to begin full-scale scientific operations in October of this year, it will collaborate with the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), India's biggest telescope (of the 4-metre class). The 1.3-metre Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT), which was inaugurated in 2010, is also on site.
Who all are involved?
The key nations that have worked to establish the ILMT are India, Belgium, Canada, Poland, and Uzbekistan. The Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and the Centre Spatial de Liège in Belgium developed and built the telescope. The financing, expected to be in the region of Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore, was supplied jointly by Canada and Belgium. This telescope's operations and maintenance will be handled by India.
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What is the use of liquid-mirror telescope?
The Indian Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will aid in scanning the sky, allowing observers to view many galaxies and other celestial sources just by looking at the above strip of sky. The telescope, which was dedicated at Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand, will aid in surveying the sky, allowing for the observation of many galaxies and other celestial sources just by looking at the strip of sky that passes overhead. It is the country's first liquid mirror telescope and the biggest in Asia. It will help in keeping an eye out for transitory objects like as trash and asteroids falling from space
What is the difference between conventional and liquid-mirror telescope?
For observations, a traditional telescope is guided to aim towards the astronomical source of interest in the sky. Liquid-mirror telescopes, on the other hand, are fixed telescopes that picture a strip of the sky at the zenith at a certain time of night. In other words, a liquid-mirror telescope will study and photograph any celestial object imaginable, including stars, galaxies, supernova explosions, asteroids, and space junk.
Conventional telescopes use highly polished glass mirrors — either a single curved mirror or a group of curved mirrors — that are regulated in order to concentrate on a certain celestial object on various nights. Light is then reflected to form pictures.
The liquid-telescope, on the other hand, is made up of mirrors with a reflective liquid, in this case, mercury – a metal with a high light-reflecting capacity.
A container containing about 50 litres (700kgs) of mercury will be spun at a set constant speed along the vertical axis of the ILMT. The mercury will spread as a thin layer in the container throughout this process, generating a paraboloid-shaped reflecting surface that will now serve as the mirror. A surface like this is perfect for collecting and focusing light. The mirror has a 4 metre diameter.
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