2004 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS - Indian Academy of Sciences

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CHAPTER 9 to meet this additional cost from their own budget. Therefore, the suggestion is that the National Facilities should be given additional funding by, say, the Department of Science and Technology which will be specifically earmarked for this purpose. In the long run such an arrangement will result in better utilization of our facilities, particularly by the university sector. Going one step further, the committee would like to suggest that such a support should be given even for observing with international facilities in those cases where the presence of the astronomer is mandatory. Usually, it is enough for one of the astronomers on the proposal to be present. If there are foreign collaborators then it is often possible to arrange for them to be present. Sometimes it is unavoidable for the Indian astronomer to be present. In such instances, the concerned astronomer should be able to approach the DST for travel grants. A rough estimate suggests that a budget of about Rs. 15 lakhs a year would be sufficient to take care of both domestic as well as international travel. To enable one to view this in proper perspective it may be mentioned that the sum mentioned above is the “effective” cost of operating the GMRT for five days! 9. Focused R&D efforts This is certainly the Golden Age of astronomy. Unprecedented progress has been made during the last decade or so in all branches of astronomy. Admittedly, the large telescopes that are now available have played a key role. Perhaps a more important factor has been the spectacular progress in the technology of detectors. We in India have neglected research and development work in this area. Certain areas, like Gallium Arsenide technology and mesoscopic devices, require such huge investments that one cannot contemplate any significant R&D effort for astronomy alone. But there are other areas in which sustained efforts will bring rich rewards. A few of them are recommended below. • Speckle Interferometry As already remarked, this is an area where there is considerable expertise in India, although not necessarily in the astronomical community. One should seed research in this area at many places, including the IITs. The optics groups at IIT Madras and IIT Delhi, for example, have considerable interest and expertise in modern optics. Optical and infrared astronomers will greatly benefit by closely interacting with such groups. The added advantage is that one can also avail of the high level engineering help that will be available at the IITs. Speckle interferometry is in great vogue at present. If one is able to develop a state of the art speckle camera, for example, one may use it to gain access to the world’s largest telescopes such as the KECK or the VLT through a collaborative programme. • Active and Adaptive Optics For more than a decade now, most of the major optical telescopes in the world have been using various techniques of active optics to correct for the distortions introduced in the incident wavefront by the earth’s atmosphere. A great deal of effort has gone into both conceptual questions, as well 119
RECOMMENDATIONS as the technology to achieve it. Although the Hubble Space Telescope does not suffer from the problems plaguing ground based telescopes, it is a telescope of modest size compared to the KECK or the VLT. So these large telescopes with active optics (and adaptive optics in the near future) can be much more versatile than the Space Telescope. Although still in its infancy, a great deal of effort has also gone into adaptive optics, where one will attempt to make real time corrections to the phase of the wavefront. Surprisingly, there is very little research or experimentation going on in India in these areas. It is essential that a few optics groups in the country, in collaboration with astronomers, start serious programmes in these areas. Clearly, active and adaptive optics have significance far beyond astronomy. It is well known that in the USA, for example, the military establishment has been supporting intensive research. While all that is presently “classified”, it will not be long before a good fraction of the progress made comes into the public domain (like the GPS Receivers did after the Gulf War!). In order to be able to effectively, and speedily, use that knowledge one will have to have acquired first hand experience. Like in other high tech areas (nuclear reactors or Tokomaks) one has to have a minimum level of experience to benefit from emerging technologies. • Detector development A continuing effort in detector development is of paramount importance to the future of astronomy in India. But such developmental work need not be confined to the astronomical institutions. One must actively pursue collaborative R&D efforts with leading laboratories in the country. In addition, one must actively seek international collaboration. Pursuing such an activity is also important for another reason. Progress in experimental science is closely related to innovative instrumentation. Unlike in the west, in India instrumentation (and materials preparation) has not received its due share of importance, at least in recent times. Part of the problem has been the difficulty of recruiting and retaining high quality engineers. Developing and sustaining new engineering/ technical challenges will help in attracting really talented engineering manpower. It will also help to retain and consolidate the existing talent (and facilities) at various laboratories and industry. The committee recommends that suitable steps should be taken to initiate development work in the following areas. • Large format CCDs for optical astronomy. • Near and mid infrared detector arrays. • CdZnTe arrays for hard X-rays. • Silicon-strip detectors. These are undoubtedly the next generation detectors for gamma ray astronomy. Some work in this emerging area is already underway as a collaborative effort between BARC, TIFR and Bharat Electronics. This is mainly in the context of elementary particle physics. A parallel developmental effort must be undertaken for space astronomy missions. 120
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ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS A Decadal
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This publication of the Academy on
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Preface The Indian Academy of Scien
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The Academy Committee for Astronomy
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h e P a n e l s Theoretical Astroph
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C H A P T E R 1 Executive Summary
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The recommendatio
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY feasibility study
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C H A P T E R 2 The Present Revolut
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THE PRESENT REVOLUTION IN ASTRONOMY
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A large eruptive prominence in HeII
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SOLAR PHYSICS • Detailed study of
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SOLAR PHYSICS Nainital Observatory
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SOLAR PHYSICS Some Possible New Ini
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SOLAR PHYSICS Telescope and the Hel
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C H A P T E R 4 Optical, Infrared &
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OPTICAL, INFRARED & ULTRAVIOLET AST
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One of the 30 antennas of the GMRT
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RADIO ASTRONOMY India’s location
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RADIO ASTRONOMY The first telescope
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RADIO ASTRONOMY Central Electronic
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RADIO ASTRONOMY • Resolution of t
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Page 105 and 106: C H A P T E R Theoretical Astrophys
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Page 113 and 114: C H A P T E R Gravitation and Parti
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Page 123 and 124: RECOMMENDATIONS different aspects s
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Page 127 and 128: RECOMMENDATIONS Keeping in mind the
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Page 133 and 134: RECOMMENDATIONS The committee appre
Page 135 and 136: RECOMMENDATIONS • All Sky Monitor
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Page 141 and 142: List of addresses Radio Observatori
Page 143 and 144: S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic
Page 145: Indian Academy of Sciences C. V. Ra
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2004 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS - Indian Academy of Sciences

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