Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

National Large Solar Telescope


Affiliations
1 Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India
 

The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) aims primarily to carry out observations of the solar atmosphere with high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution. A comprehensive site characterization programme, that commenced in 2007, has identified an excellent site in the Ladakh region at the Pangong lake, India. With an innovative optical design, NLST is an on-axis Gregorian telescope with a low number of optical elements to reduce the number of reflections and yield a high throughput with low polarization. In addition, it uses high-order adaptive optics to produce close to diffraction limited performance. To control atmospheric and thermal perturbations of the observations, the telescope will function with a fully open dome, to achieve its full potential atop a 25 m tower. The post-focus instruments include broadband and tuneable Fabry-Perot narrow band imaging instruments and a high-resolution spectropolarimeter.

Keywords

Adaptive Optics, High Angular Resolution, Magnetic Fields, Solar Telescope.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Shelyag, S., Keys, P., Mathioudakis, M. and Keenan, F. P., Vorticity in the solar photosphere. Astron. Astrophys., 2011, 526(A5), 1–7.

  • Hasan, S. S., Soltau, D., Kärcher, H., Süss, M. and Berkefeld, T., NLST – India’s National Large Solar Telescope. Astron. Nachr., 2010, 331, 628–635.

  • Hasan, S. S., Indian National Large Solar Telescope. ASP Conf. Ser., 2012, 463, 395–403.

  • Khomenko, E., Collados, M., Solanki, S. K., Lagg, A. and Trujillo Bueno, J., Quiet-Sun inter-network magnetic fields observed in the infrared. Astron. Astrophys., 2003, 408, 1115–1135.

  • Solanki, S. K., Livingston, W. L. and Ayres, T., New light on the heart of darkness of the solar chromosphere. Science, 1994, 263, 64–66.

  • Ravindra, B. and Banyal, B., A dual Fabry–Perot based narrow band imager for the National Large Solar Telescope. ASI Conf. Ser., 2011, 2, 47–53.

  • Elmore, D. F. et al., The advanced stokes polarimeter – a new instrument for solar magnetic field research. SPIE, 1992, 1746, 22–23.

  • Hasan, S. S., Bagare, S. P. and Rangarajan, K. E., Solar astronomy at high altitude. Proc. Indian Natl. Sci. Acad., 2014, 80, 815–825.


Abstract Views: 351

PDF Views: 145




  • National Large Solar Telescope

Abstract Views: 351  |  PDF Views: 145

Authors

S. S. Hasan
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India
D. Banerjee
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India
B. Ravindra
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India
K. Sankarasubramanian
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India
K. E. Rangarajan
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 560 034, India

Abstract


The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) aims primarily to carry out observations of the solar atmosphere with high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution. A comprehensive site characterization programme, that commenced in 2007, has identified an excellent site in the Ladakh region at the Pangong lake, India. With an innovative optical design, NLST is an on-axis Gregorian telescope with a low number of optical elements to reduce the number of reflections and yield a high throughput with low polarization. In addition, it uses high-order adaptive optics to produce close to diffraction limited performance. To control atmospheric and thermal perturbations of the observations, the telescope will function with a fully open dome, to achieve its full potential atop a 25 m tower. The post-focus instruments include broadband and tuneable Fabry-Perot narrow band imaging instruments and a high-resolution spectropolarimeter.

Keywords


Adaptive Optics, High Angular Resolution, Magnetic Fields, Solar Telescope.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi04%2F696-700