Abstract:
Indian Astronomical Observatory’s 2m-Himalayan Chandra Telescope (2m-HCT) is situated at Hanle, Ladakh and remotely controlled from CREST campus of IIA, located at Hosakote, near Bengaluru. Hanle serves as an excellent observing site in the country providing a large number of clear nights required for astronomical observations. This is one of the backbone research facilities for premiere research in astronomy in India. It has completed 20 years of continuous operations in 2020. Ramya Sethuram will give a brief introduction to the 2m-HC and its back-end science instruments. Following this, Dorje Angchuk will give the visitors a guided tour of the observatory.
About The Speaker:
Ramya Sethuram is currently a Project Scientist at India-TMT Centre at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru. After completing her PhD from IIA on dwarf galaxies, she did her postdoctoral research work at the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Paris and at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Shanghai. Her research interests are star formation processes in dwarf galaxies, low surface brightness galaxies, stellar populations and star formation histories in low luminosity galaxies and has immense interest in astronomical instrumentation as well.
Dorje Angchuk is the Engineer-in-Charge at the Indian Astronomical Observatory and is among the key staff members involved in the commissioning and operation of the telescopes at the IAO. Apart from his professional contribution, he is an outstanding astrophotographer. His pictures have been featured in leading publications such as The New Yorker magazine.
