The International Liquid Mirror Telescope is a 4-meter telescope located inside the premises of
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is a research institute in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India which specializes in astronomy, solar physics, astrophysics and atmospheric science. It is an autonomous body under the ...
(ARIES) in the city of
Nainital
Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...
,
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...
, India. It is the first
liquid-mirror telescope
Liquid-mirror telescopes are telescopes with mirrors made with a reflective liquid. The most common liquid used is mercury, but other liquids will work as well (for example, low-melting point alloys of gallium). The liquid and its container are ...
for astronomy in Asia and currently the largest liquid-mirror telescope in the world after the decommissioning of the Large Zenith Telescope.
History
On 2 June 2022, the telescope saw its
first light. On 12 June 2022, it came online. On 21 June 2022, it became ready to observe. On 21 March 2023, it was inaugurated by
Jitendra Singh.
Mechanism
The telescope uses
elemental mercury as its mirror surface. The mercury is rotated about the axis of the telescope, and due to
centrifugal force
Centrifugal force is a fictitious force in Newtonian mechanics (also called an "inertial" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It appears to be directed radially away from the axi ...
, takes a
parabolic shape to focus incoming light.
[{{Cite web , last=Hazra , first=Dipavali , date=2022-06-04 , title=India commissions its first liquid mirror telescope: How will it work? , url=https://www.timesnownews.com/explainer/india-commissions-its-first-liquid-mirror-telescope-how-will-it-work-article-92007062 , access-date=2023-03-24 , website=]Times Now
Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters.
It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...
, language=en
See also
*
Large Zenith Telescope
The Large Zenith Telescope (LZT) was a 6.0-meter diameter liquid-mirror telescope located in the University of British Columbia's Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, about east from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (north from Maple Ridge). It w ...
*
NASA Orbital Debris Observatory
NASA Orbital Debris Observatory (NODO) was an astronomy, astronomical observatory located in the Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Cloudcroft, New Mexico approximately northeast of Alamogordo, New Mexico, Alamogordo. From 19 ...
References
Telescopes
Optical telescopes
Astronomical observatories in India
Liquid mirror telescopes