Recently India commissioned its first liid mirror telescope at

India commissioned its first International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) at the Devasthal Observatory campus in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand [1]. Located at an altitude of 2,450 meters in the Himalayas, it is the first liquid mirror telescope in India and the largest in Asia [1]. The telescope was built by a consortium involving India, Belgium, and Canada, and it achieved 'first light' in May 2022 before being formally inaugurated in March 2023. Unlike conventional steerable telescopes, the ILMT uses a 4-meter-diameter rotating container of liquid mercury to form a parabolic reflecting surface that stares at the zenith to survey the sky for transient objects like supernovae and asteroids [1]. This facility is operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology [1].

Sources

1. [1] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1830501