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Tests over, India set to make the ‘iris’ of biggest telescope ever - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
Sometime in 2023, a 30-metre man-made "eye" will open atop the Hawaiian volcanic dome of Mauna Kea in search of life beyond the solar system. And India would have contributed its "iris".
Barely a month after signing in as a full partner in the $1.4 billion Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) project jointly developed by five nations, India is all set to make sensors and actuators that will keep the huge mirror of the biggest telescope in place.
"We have completed the tests. We are ready," said Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) scientist B Eswar Reddy. IIA, Aryabhatta Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) constitute the Indian arm of the consortium that also comprises labs from Canada, the US, China and Japan.
Edge sensors and actuators are crucial components of the telescope as the huge mirror is not a single piece, but a composite of 492 hexagonal segments. Each segment is controlled by three activators and two edge sensors along each inter-segment gap to ensure accurate optical images.
Eswar told the 102nd Indian Science Congress that India plays a pivotal role in setting up the telescope with a resolution 12 times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. "India will be involved in polishing the primary mirror and setting up its control system, besides developing electronics, edge sensors and actuators," Reddy said.
Sometime in 2023, a 30-metre man-made "eye" will open atop the Hawaiian volcanic dome of Mauna Kea in search of life beyond the solar system. And India would have contributed its "iris".
Barely a month after signing in as a full partner in the $1.4 billion Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) project jointly developed by five nations, India is all set to make sensors and actuators that will keep the huge mirror of the biggest telescope in place.
"We have completed the tests. We are ready," said Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) scientist B Eswar Reddy. IIA, Aryabhatta Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) constitute the Indian arm of the consortium that also comprises labs from Canada, the US, China and Japan.
Edge sensors and actuators are crucial components of the telescope as the huge mirror is not a single piece, but a composite of 492 hexagonal segments. Each segment is controlled by three activators and two edge sensors along each inter-segment gap to ensure accurate optical images.
Eswar told the 102nd Indian Science Congress that India plays a pivotal role in setting up the telescope with a resolution 12 times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. "India will be involved in polishing the primary mirror and setting up its control system, besides developing electronics, edge sensors and actuators," Reddy said.
