BREIF INFORMATION ABOUT TELESCOPE IN INDO-US MEETINGS

v  THIRTY METER TELESCOPE

Ø  Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, and forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable Universe, near the beginning of time.

Ø  This is an optical telescope

Ø  It will be located at mauna kea in HAWAII.

Ø  India has approved the participation to TMT at cost of around 1300 crore.

Ø  The TMT will be constructed at a cost of US $1.47 billion (in 2012 Base Year Dollars) by an international consortium consisting of institutions from the USA, Canada, Japan, India and China.

Ø  This partnership will also enhance India’s technological capabilities in high-technology areas such as primary mirror segment figuring and polishing, mirror support system and edge sensor assembly and testing, software for observatory controls, data analysis pipelines, adaptive optics techniques etc.

v  SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY (SKA)

Ø  Radio telescopes use dishes to pick up radio waves. sensors on the dishes collect the waves and turn them into a picture.

Ø  SKA is a radio telescope in development in south Africa and Australia . The dish are scattered over an area of one square kilometer.

Ø  India is member to SKA project.