Ladakh likely to get world’s largest telescope

Tribune News Service

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Jammu, March 26

Working on the prestigious project since 2013, Ladakh is likely to get the world’s largest telescope at Hanle.

Hanle has reportedly been shortlisted for the $1.47-billion project by the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) International Observatory.

Originally the telescope had to come up at Mauna Kea in Hawaii, but after the Hawaii Supreme Court cancelled the permit issued to the TMT in December 2015 for constructing the observatory, Hanle and Chile were being considered as two prospective sites.

India is reportedly expected to invest $212 million in the project.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) at Bengaluru and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune along with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) have been working on the project since 2013.

A team of international experts are likely to visit Ladakh in a couple of months to inspect the site at Hanle.

The work for the installation of telescope in Ladakh had started in 2013 and it will come up at Hanle village, close to the Pangong Tso, along the Line of Actual Control.

An official in the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Leh said Hanle has sufficient land, including a large hilly terrain in the village, which has been identified for the setting up of the telescope.

The telescope will help scientists study the sun’s atmosphere and understand the process of creation and decay of sunspots.

According to scientists, the main objective of the telescope is to study the subsurface structure of sunspots. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics is the nodal agency for the project.

India is already busy creating edge sensors, actuators and system support assemblies, besides contributing to the software of the TMT.