Mumbai, December 18
In a thrilling astronomical development, the world’s largest “eye on the universe” — an optical, infra-red, 30-metre telescope (TMT) — is fast coming up with critical help from Indian scientists, engineers and industries at its proposed location in Maunakea in US’ Hawaii.
The TMT will be the most gigantic scope ever to be constructed by the world at a cost of over $2.6 billion, with collaboration of India, the US, Japan, Canada and China, said Prasanna Deshmukh, 35, one of the scientists engaged in the mega-project.
Hailing from Maharashtra’s Sangli, Deshmukh is the work package manager for TMT’s primary mirror control system, and handling the crucial actuators and edge sensors for the telescope.
The TMT’s Indian collaborators are: the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, and the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.