National Large Solar Telescope

National Large Solar Telescope Latest News

In this year’s Union Budget, the government sanctioned the establishment of two new telescopes namely National Large Solar Telescope and National Large Optical-Near Infrared Telescope to study the sun and the origins of the universe.

About National Large Solar Telescope

• It is a 2-metre aperture solar telescope, coming up in the Merak region near the Pangong Tso Lake.
• Purpose: It is meant to study the sun
• It will operate in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• It will help solar physicists to study the fundamental solar dynamics and magnetism, energetic solar events, and map various space-weather processes having a direct bearing on the Earth and national space assets, like satellites and space launches.
• NLST will serve as India’s third ground-based solar observatory.
  • Currently, the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (in Tamil Nadu, established 1899) and the Udaipur Solar Observatory (in Rajasthan, established 1975) are operational.

Key Facts about National Large Optical-Near Infrared Telescope

• It is a 13.7-metre aperture segmented-mirror telescope which will be built in Hanle.
  • In a segmented-mirror telescope, a larger primary mirror comprises highly complex, smaller hexagonal mirror segments.
• It will have 90 smaller segmented mirrors arranged in a fashion that they all collect light but act as one, large mirror.
• It will be one of the world’s largest telescopes operating in the electromagnetic spectrum’s optical-infrared wavelengths.
• Objective: Frontier research on exoplanets, stellar and galactic evolution, and supernovae will be possible, besides looking for clues to trace the origins of the universe. 

Source: IE

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