Abstract Details
| Name: Brajesh Kumar Affiliation: ARIES, Nainital Conference ID: ASI2015_549 Title : The upcoming 4-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) project Authors and Co-Authors : Jean Surdej, Paul Hickson, E. Borra, Francois Finet, J.P. Swings, Serge Habraken and A.K. Pandey Abstract Type : Oral Abstract Category : Instrumentation and Techniques Abstract : The International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) is a collaborative project between Belgium, India, Canada and Poland. It consists of a 4-m diameter mirror with a f/2 focal ratio. The ILMT will be set up at the Devasthal Observatory (79º 41' 04" E, +29º 21' 40", altitude ∼2450m), ARIES. With a very simple structure, combined with a 4k x 4k CCD camera and an optical corrector, this telescope will work in the Time Delay Integration mode taking advantage of the best seeing conditions, i.e. those prevailing at the zenith. It will image a strip of sky in the g', r' and i' spectral bands, having an approximate width of 27 arcminutes in declination and length of 24 hours in right ascension. The ILMT will thus perform a deep survey of a long and narrow strip of sky by looking at stars, galaxies, AGNs, SNe, asteroids, space debris, etc. that are crossing its field of view. The survey with the ILMT will be mainly dedicated to photometric and astrometric variability studies. During the past few years, a number of experiments have been performed such as spin casting of the primary mirror, optical quality tests of the mercury surface and mylar film experiments, etc. to solve many issues and technical problems inherent to this project. Major parts of the ILMT have already reached the Devasthal Observatory and installation will start soon, just after completion of the enclosure construction. In this talk, we will present an overview and the present status of this new upcoming facility. |