Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory
 Observatory as seen from Guru Shikhar. | |
| Alternative names | Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory |
|---|---|
| Organization | |
| Location | Sirohi district, Jodhpur division, Rajasthan, India |
| Coordinates | 24°39′17.34″N 72°46′45.18″E / 24.6548167°N 72.7792167°E |
| Altitude | 1,680 m (5,510 ft) |
| Established | 1990[1] |
| Website | Physical Research Laboratory |
| Telescopes | |
  Location of Mount Abu Observatory | |
 Related media on Commons | |
The Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory (MIRO) is located near the town Mount Abu in the state of Rajasthan, India. The observatory is at an altitude of 1680 metres and is adjacent to Guru Shikhar, highest peak of the Aravalli Range. The 1.2 m infrared telescope[2] is the first major facility in India specifically designed for ground-based, infrared observations of celestial objects. Further the low amount of precipitable water vapour (1–2 mm during winter) at Guru Shikhar makes it a good site for the infrared telescope observations. The site has been found to be good (about 150 cloud free nights per year) for astronomical observations.[3]
Location[edit]
The Observatory is located near Guru Shikhar, the highest peak of the Aravalli Range at an altitude of 1680 metres.[1] Mount Abu is about 28 km from the Abu Road railway station and about 240 km from Ahmedabad. MIRO is operated by the Astronomy & Astrophysics Division of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.
Observation[edit]
Mount Abu has about 200 cloud-free nights of which 150 nights a year can be used for photometric observations.[4] It has a typical seeing of ~1.2 arcsec. Observations are closed during Indian monsoon period (Late June to mid-September).
Facilities[edit]
Mount Abu Observatory is equipped with a 1.2m Infrared Telescope along with the following back-end instruments: NICMOS Infrared Camera and Spectrograph, Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer, large format optical CCDs, Optical Imaging Polarimeter and Fibre-linked Grating Spectrograph.[5] A new high resolution optical spectrometer, PRL Advanced Radial-velocity All-sky Search (PARAS) to detect extrasolar planets using the radial velocity technique began observation in April 2012.[4][6]
In addition to these, a 50 cm telescope, Automated Telescope for Variability Study (ATVS), is now functional to monitor variable sources, e.g. AGNs, variable stars, Comets etc. and another 43 cm telescope for ground-based photometry.[citation needed] MIRO has its own Aluminizing plant for polishing of the telescope mirrors,[7] a liquid nitrogen plant for providing liquid nitrogen to cool the IR detectors to reduce thermal noise.
A new facility, created by LEOS, ISRO will become operational. This facility will have a one-meter diameter telescope with sophisticated optics and back-end instruments assembled by the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), Bengaluru. The new facility, known as the Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (EODSS) system, will track space debris, mainly consisting of inactive satellites, electronic parts of instruments, leftovers from rocket launch and other such junk in space.[8]
Largest Telescope (upcoming)[edit]
In early 2014, PRL Astrophysicists recognized the need for a larger aperture telescope specifically tailored to PRL’s dedicated exoplanetary science and target of opportunities (TOO) programs. The decision to initiate a 2.5m telescope project at Gurushikhar was made and subsequently in February 2015, a contract was signed with Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) in Liège, Belgium. The kick-off meeting took place in mid-July 2016, leading to the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) in September 2020 and the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) concluding by October 2022.[9]
The PRL 2.5 m telescope is a highly advanced telescope in India, featuring the Ritchey-Chrétien optical configuration with primary mirror active optics, tip-tilt on side-port, and wavefront correction sensors. Along with the telescope, its first light instruments, the Faint Object Camera (FOC) and PARAS-2, were also integrated and attached to it in June 2022. The FOC, a 10x10 sq. arcminute FOV CCD Imager with SDSS Filter sets, was designed primarily for detailed scientific observations and study of transient astrophysical phenomena. PARAS-2 is an advanced version of PARAS designed to detect and study exoplanets. It operates at a resolution of 107,000 under the stabilized environment of temperature and pressure, at 24 ± 0.001 ◦C and 0.005 ± 0.0005 mbar, respectively.[9]
PRL is also developing additional backend instruments for the 2.5m telescope, such as Near Infrared Spectrograph and Polarimeter (NISP), Low- Resolution Spectrograph (LRS), and an echelle spectro-polarimeter (MFOSC-EP & its proto-type) which will see the first light in the upcoming 1-2 years for various astrophysical studies.[9]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Shah, R. R.; N. S. Jog; D. V. Subhedhar; D. V. Subhedar; A. D. Bobra; H. T. Rangooni; S. N. Mathur; P. S. Patwal; et al. (2005). "The telescope control system at Mount Abu infrared observatory" (PDF). Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India. 33: 237–243. Bibcode:2005BASI...33..237S. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ Padmanabhan, Thanu (1997), New Challenges In Astrophysics, New Age International, p. 164, ISBN 978-81-224-1120-1
- ^ Optical, Infrared and Radio Telescope Facilities in India. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ a b Ramachandran, R (19 April 2013). "Indian search". Frontline. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "PRL — Astronomy & Astrophysics Division". PRL. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "Scientist At Mount Abu Observatory Make India Proud, Discover New Planet 600 Light Years Away". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ "2005BASI...33..237S Page 241". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "Isro-PRL's observatory at Mt Abu to track space junk - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ a b c "Mount Abu Observatory". www.prl.res.in. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
