India gets Asia’s largest liquid mirror telescope in Uttarakhand. The telescope is one of its kind in the world and will be operational in October. It is designed to explore the sky closely and identifies not the stars, but the debris in space, asteroids, and other objects in the space.
The telescope is also powerful enough to see several galaxies from the height of 2450 meters. It is an achievement for India as there are very few such pieces of equipment around the world. Get more details about this recent development here.
What is a Liquid Mirror Telescope?
Unlike other telescopes that have mirrors for observation, zenith telescope works on a reflective liquid. Usually, mercury is used inside the telescope that acts as a paraboloidal object. There is also a container of a parabolic shape and it works when both, container and mirror (reflective liquid) are spin at a constant speed.
The idea of using a liquid as a mirror was first proposed by Isaac Newton but he failed to make one. Other difficulties like their fix position made the design of these telescopes challenging. However, the zenith telescopes are cost-effective than glass mirror lenses.
Location of Largest Liquid Mirror
via:wikipedia
India’s first liquid mirror telescope is located at the ARIES in Nainital. ARIES or Devasthal Observatory is India’s best astronomical observatory. It already has two telescopes of 1.3 and 3.6 meter.
Liquid mirror telescope would be a unique one and will be used to discover new objects while performing deep surveys on astronomy. The telescope will be operational only for 5 years.