Explained: The liquid-mirror telescope and why India getting one is a big deal

India has established its first liquid-mirror telescope in Uttarakhand. The International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT), the largest in Asia, has been set up on Devasthal hill at an altitude of 2,450 metres to peer into the sky. It is the third telescope that will be operating from Devasthal –  after the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and the 1.3-metre Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT). Let’s take a closer look at what it is and why India getting one is a big deal: Who built it? The telescope was constructed in collaboration by scientists from Canada, Belgium and India. It has been placed at the Devasthal Observatory campus of the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital district, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. What can it do? The telescope is capable of tracking supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris, and asteroids. It is the world’s only operational liquid-mirror telescope. It is also the first liquid-mirror telescope designed just for astronomical purposes. The telescope will aid in the survey of the sky, making it possible to observe several galaxies and other astronomical sources just by staring at the strip of sky that passes overhead. “Unlike the conventional telescopes that can be steered to track specific stellar source objects, the ILMT will be stationary. It will basically carry out observations and imaging at the zenith, that is, of the overhead sky. This is  a survey telescope having high potential for discovering newer objects,”  Dr Kuntal Misra, project investigator of ILMT at ARIES, told Indian Express. How does it work? It has a 4-metre-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury to collect and focus light. Scientists spun a pool of mercury, which is a reflective liquid, so that the surface is curved into a parabolic shape which is ideal for focusing light. Another thin transparent film of mylar protects the mercury from the wind. The reflected light passes through a sophisticated multi-lens optical corrector that produces sharp images over a wide field of view. Meanwhile, a large-format electronic camera located at the focus records the images. As professor Paul Hickson, an expert on liquid-mirror technology explained to India Today: “The rotation of the earth causes the images to drift across the camera, but this motion is compensated electronically by the camera. This mode of operation increases observing efficiency and makes the telescope particularly sensitive to faint and diffuse objects.” As per Indian Express, the ILMT will operate every night for five years and carry out daily imaging except between June and August monsoon months, a precaution to protect the instruments from humid conditions. “The ILMT data will be ideally suited to perform deep photometric and astrometric variability surveys over a period of five years,” professor Jean Surdej, project director, University of Liège, Belgium, told the newspaper. Experts say the ILMT will produce about 10 GB of data every night when regular science operations begin later this year. “The wealth of data generated with the ILMT survey will be exemplary. In the future, several young researchers will be working on different science programs utilizing the ILMT data," Misra told India Today. “I am hopeful that this project will attract and motivate several young minds from scientific and engineering backgrounds to take up challenging problems,” ARIES director Dipankar Banerjee told The Times of India. Dr Brajesh Kumar, ILMT project scientist, told NDTV the data will help identify variable and transient stellar sources passing through our skies. Big Data and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning algorithms will be implemented for classifying the objects observed by the ILMT. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.