Open AccessHistory of initial fifty years of ARIES: A Major National Indian Facility for Optical Observations
Author(s) -
B. B. Sanwal,
A. K. Pandey,
Wahab Uddin,
Brijesh Kumar,
Santosh Joshi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
bulletin de la société royale des sciences de liège
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1783-5720
DOI - 10.25518/0037-9565.7445
Subject(s) - observatory , telescope , uttar pradesh , spectrograph , new delhi , optical telescope , physics , astronomy , engineering , geography , archaeology , sociology , metropolitan area , socioeconomics , spectral line
The idea of starting an astronomical observatory in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India germinated through the initiative of a scholarly statesman Babu Sampurnanandji. His interest in astrology coupled with his academic bent of mind got him interested in modern astronomy. Being then Education Minister and later Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he established an astronomical observatory at Varanasi on April 20, 1954. Later on it was shifted to Manora Peak, Nainital. Four reflectors were commissioned at Manora Peak. For solar research an H alpha petrol unit and a horizontal solar spectrograph was setup. A detailed project report for installation of a 4-m class optical telescope was prepared indigenously in late 1980, however, the project could not take off. With the generous support of the Department of Science and Technology, the institute established a 3.6-m new technology optical telescope and a 1.3-m wide field optical telescope at a new observing site called Devasthal. Now a 4-m liquid mirror telescope is also being installed at the same observing site. I present here a brief journey of the observatory beginning right from its birth in 1954 till now.