Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope

Infobox Telescope
bgcolour =
name = Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope


caption = Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at sunset
organization = NCRA
location = 10 kilometre!km east of Narayangaon, India
wavelength = radio 50 to 1500 MHz
built = First light 1995
website = http://www.gmrt.ncra.tifr.res.in
style = array of 30 parabolic reflectors
diameter = 45m
area = 60,750m²
focal_length =
mounting = alt-azimuth fully steerable primary mirror!primary

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), located near Pune in India, is the world's largest array of radio telescopes at metre wavelengths. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay.

Location

The GMRT is located around 80 km north of Pune at Khodad (Located 19° 5'47.46"N 74° 2'59.07"E). A nearby town is Narayangoan which is around 15 km from the telescope. The office of NCRA is located in the Pune University campus right next to IUCAA.

Technical Information

There are fourteen telescopes randomly arranged in the central square, with a further sixteen arranged in three arms of a nearly "Y"-shaped array (similar to the VLA) giving an interferometric baseline of about 25 km. The GMRT is an interferometer which uses a technique known as aperture synthesis to make images of radio sources.

Each antenna is 45 metres in diameter and, instead of a solid surface like many radio telescopes, the reflector is made of wire rope stretched between metal struts in a parabolic configuration. This works because of the long wavelengths (21 cm and longer) at which the telescope operates. Each antenna has four different receivers mounted at the focus. Each individual receiver assembly can rotate so that the user can select the frequency at which to observe.

The maximum baseline in the array gives the telescope an angular resolution (the smallest angular scale that can be distinguished) of about 1 arcsecond at the frequency of neutral hydrogen (1420 MHz).

Astronomers from all over the world regularly use this telescope to observe many different astronomical objects such as galaxies, pulsars and supernovae.

Activities

Each year on National Science Day the observatory invites the public and pupils from schools and colleges in the surrounding area to visit the site where they can listen to explanations of radio astronomy, receiver technology and astronomy from the engineers and astronomers who work there. Nearby schools/colleges are also invited to put their individual science experiments in exhibition and the best one in each level (primary, secondary school and Jr. college) are awarded.

External links

* [http://www.gmrt.ncra.tifr.res.in/ GMRT Homepage]
* [http://www.gmrt.ncra.tifr.res.in/gmrt_hpage/Images/Diagrams/yarray.gifY-shaped array]
* [http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=118880 Article on Science Day]