MSV-2035 Astronomy Document - Inside Design - FINAL - FINAL

Astronomy & Astrophysics 115 Continued participation in the mega projects India is already participating in is essential. For the success of these Mega Science Projects, it is important to adhere to all the commitments (monetary and in-kind contributions) and provide deliverables of the required quality and in the required quantities on-time over the full duration of the projects. In particular, striving to build large instruments as in-kind contribution will provide themuch-needed technical know-how to our scientific community and industries. It is important to bridge the gap between the largest optical telescope (3.6-meter DOT) presently available in the country and the TMT that will be operational in a decade's time. Therefore, it is imperative that we develop our own 10-meter class facility and/or participate in other 10-meter class telescope projects. It is also recommended that the Indian astronomy community explores the possibility of being part of international consortia of observatories. This will enable access to a wide variety of telescopes and instruments. To utilise the existing national astronomy facilities optimally, it is important to upgrade and operate them efficiently. This document provides some suggestions in this regard. In particular, automation and networking of some of the facilities fitted with well thoughtout instruments will enable Indian astronomers take gainful advantage of the country's geographical location in areas of time-domain astronomy. With the successful launch and continued operations of AstroSat, India has joined the small league of countries operating space observatories. While the focus of the international community is shifting towards higher wavelength observatories in space, it will be important to plan and exploit the window of opportunities in other wavebands (such as inUVandX-ray) in space tomake unique contributions. Solar astronomy facilities in the country have not seen any major developments for some time. While the recently launched Indian solar space observatory Aditya-L1 will provide a good impetus, a complementary ground-based facility is the need of the hour. It is now well documented that well-maintained data archives considerably enhance the scientific output of astronomical observations. It is strongly recommended that we maintain a centralised data archive for all the Indian facilities. Suitably structured data pipeline facilities are needed to provide nearly uniform quality processed data to the community. It is important to have large dedicated computing facilities to achieve maximum scientific outputs from various astronomical observations. In particular, more realistic simulations are needed to interpret data from large telescope facilities. Setting up a national computing facility that caters to the needs of all the mega-science projects will yield best results with optimum resources. It is important to build a community with expertise in astronomical instrumentation, that can build large, high precision instruments. As observatory-class facilities run for several decades, their continued relevance and success depend on instrument upgrades. It is important for the Indian community to be in a position to propose and build instruments with evolving technologies in the coming decades. • • • • • • • • MEGA SCIENCE VISION-2035