World’s first liquid-mirror telescope

Context

India’s first liquid-mirror telescope, which will observe asteroids, supernovae, space debris and all other celestial objects from an altitude of 2,450 metres in the Himalayas, has seen its first light.

• It has now entered the commissioning phase and will start scientific observations some time in October this year.

About International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT)

• ILMT will be the third telescope to be operating from Devasthal after the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) — the largest in India commissioned in 2016 — and the 1.3-metre Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) inaugurated in 2010.
• The telescope was designed and built at the Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and the Centre Spatial de Liege, Belgium. 
  • The major instrumentation funding was jointly provided by Canada and Belgium while India will be responsible for the operations and upkeep of the telescope.
• This was Established on the campus of the Devasthal Observatory of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital. 
• The International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) is the only liquid-mirror telescope operational anywhere in the world. 
  • Only a handful of liquid-mirror telescopes have been previously built but were majorly used either for tracking satellites or for military purposes.
• It will also hold the unique tag of being the maiden liquid-telescope globally to be designed exclusively for astronomical purposes.