Scientist dismisses China observatory site
Dean of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, Prof. T. Prabhu, who played a key role in setting up Hanle’s Indian Astronomical Observatory in Ladakh, dismissed rumours that the Chinese are planning to set up an astronomical observatory in the disputed territory of Aksai Chin.
Prof. Prabhu, who is playing a key role in the setting up of the world’s largest solar telescope fitted with a two-metre reflector also in Ladakh, believes the “first best site” that the Chinese have identified for a joint observatory with scientists from Japan and South Korea is near the Shiquanhe town in Ngari prefecture, south of Mt. Kailash, bordering Nepal and India.
“The second best site is north of Gilgit,” Prof. Prabhu maintains.
Building observatories has become an expensive business with costs running into millions of dollars. “It is, therefore, natural for countries to turn this into a collaborative exercise where joint site surveying can be undertaken and costs can also be shared,” he said.
A Chinese scientist with the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has also said that a possible location for the new observatory will be in the mountains of Tibet’s Ngari prefecture. This high mountainous terrain has been preferred because of limited clouds and high transparency.
A 30-metre next-generation telescope is being built at a cost of over $1 billion on Mt. Mauna Kea in Hawaii. “A consortium of countries is helping put this up and both India and China are partners in this effort,” said Prof. Prabhu.
“At present, India and China are observers but they sit together in all meetings,” the scientist added. India’s observatory at Hanle is located at an altitude of 4,500 metres and is currently the second highest optical telescope in the world.
Once installed, India’s solar telescope will be able to study particles spread across 50 km of the Sun. Plans are on to build a second smaller observatory at Pangong lake also in Ladakh.
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