The 4m International Liquid Mirror Telescope: a Brief History and Some Preliminary Scientific Results
Jean Surdej,
Institute of Astrophysics and Geophysics, University of Liège, Allée du 6 Août 19c, 4000 Liège, Belgium. Corresponding author: jsurdej@uliege.be
Bhavya Ailawadhi,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India and Department of Physics, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, 273009, India
Talat Akhunov,
National University of Uzbekistan, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 100174 Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences, Astronomicheskaya 33, 100052 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Ermanno Borra,
Department of Physics, Université Laval, 2325, rue de l’Université, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
Monalisa Dubey,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India and Department of Applied Physics, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 243006, India
Naveen Dukiya,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India and Department of Applied Physics, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 243006, India.
Jiuyang Fu,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Baldeep Grewal,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Paul Hickson,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Brajesh Kumar,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India.
Kuntal Misra,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India.
Vibhore Negi,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India and Department of Physics, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, 273009, India
Anna Pospieszalska-Surdej,
Institute of Astrophysics and Geophysics, University of Liège, Allée du 6 Août 19c, 4000, Liège, Belgium
Kumar Pranshu,
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational sciencES (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital, 263001, India and Department of Applied Optics and Photonics, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700106, India
Ethen Sun,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Abstract
The present article is based upon an invited talk delivered at the occasion of the inauguration of the 4m International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) which took place in Devasthal (ARIES, Uttarakhand, India) on 21st March 2023. We present hereafter a short history of the liquid mirror telescopes and in particular of the 4m ILMT which is the first liquid mirror telescope entirely dedicated to astrophysical observations. We discuss a few preliminary scientific results and illustrate some direct CCD images taken during the first commissioning phase of the telescope. We invite the reader to refer to the series of ILMT poster papers published in these proceedings of the third BINA workshop for more details about the instrument, operation, first observations, performance and scientific results.
Keywords : ILMT, survey, telescope, inauguration, first light
Pour citer cet article
Jean Surdej, Bhavya Ailawadhi, Talat Akhunov, Ermanno Borra, Monalisa Dubey, Naveen Dukiya, Jiuyang Fu, Baldeep Grewal, Paul Hickson, Brajesh Kumar, Kuntal Misra, Vibhore Negi, Anna Pospieszalska-Surdej, Kumar Pranshu & Ethen Sun, «The 4m International Liquid Mirror Telescope: a Brief History and Some Preliminary Scientific Results», Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège [En ligne], Volume 93 - Année 2024, No 2 - Proceeedings of the 3rd BINA Workshop on the Scientific Potential of the Indo-Belgian Cooperation, 1054-1068 URL : http://popups.ulg.be/0037-9565/index.php?id=11961.