HCT@IIA

HCT @ IIA

The Himalayan Chandra Telescope is a 2.01-metre (79 inches) optical-infrared telescope named after India-born Nobel laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar. Its primary mirror is made of ULE ceramic which is designed to withstand low temperatures it experiences. The telescope was manufactured by Electo-Optical System Technologies Inc. at Tucson, Arizona, USA. The telescope is remotely operated via an INSAT-3B satellite link which allows operation even in sub-zero temperatures in winter. (website)

The Center for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) is situated 35 km to the northeast of Bangalore near Hoskote town. The Center houses the control room for the remote operations of the HCT, and the HCT data archive.

            Location Details
            
                    Location
                    IAO Indian Astronomical Observatory (Mt. Saraswati, Digpa-ratsa Ri, Hanle, India)
                
                    Coordinates
                    32°46'46″N 78°57′51″E
                
                    Altitude
                    4500m
                
                    Type
                    Ritchey-Chretien
                
                    Size
                    201cm
                
                    Operated by
                    remotely operated via an INSAT-3B satellite link from Bangalore (CREST)
                
                    Instruments
                    HFOSC, TIRSPEC, HESP

Location	IAO Indian Astronomical Observatory (Mt. Saraswati, Digpa-ratsa Ri, Hanle, India)
Coordinates	32°46'46″N 78°57′51″E
Altitude	4500m
Type	Ritchey-Chretien
Size	201cm
Operated by	remotely operated via an INSAT-3B satellite link from Bangalore (CREST)
Instruments	HFOSC, TIRSPEC, HESP

Telescope Time

Observing time on the telescope is granted purely based on the scientific merit of the proposal submitted against the regular call for proposals and reviewed by the time allocation committee. Time is allocated to the proposers in cycles of four months each. HCT also accepts Target of Opportunity (ToO) proposals (see this website)

HFOSC (Himalayan Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera)

Wavelength range: 3500 – 9000 Angstroms
Field of View: 10 x 10 arcmin²
Detector: 2048 x 4096 pixels CCD
pixel size of 15 x 15 microns
Spectral resolution: R is about 150 to 4500 using a set of 11 grisms
Filter: u, g, r, i, z + some set of narrow band filters

TIRSPEC (TIFR Near Infrared Spectrometer and Imager)

Wavelength range: 1 to 2.5 micron
Field of View: 307 x 307 arcsec²
Detector: 1 k x 1 k Hawaii – 1 array
Pixel Size: 18 micron
Spectral resolution: 1200
Filters: J, H, K-short, H2 (1-0), Br Gamma, CO (2-0)

HESP (Hanle Echelle Spectrograph)

type: fibre-fed
Wavelength range: 3500 - 10.000 Angstroms
Resolution: 30,000 (without image slicer) ; 60,000 (with image slicer)
Radial velocity accuracy: 20m/s with double fibre mode