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

Astronomy & Astrophysics 78 impact Earth's proximal space. With large observatories either already in existence, or planned, in the United States, Europe and China, a large solar observatory in India fills up a crucial gap in global coordinated studies of the Sun. The proposed location of NLST is identified to be near the Pangong Tso lake in the newly established Union Territory of Ladakh. Here, the observing conditions have been deemed to be ideal. The proposed design of the NLST is based upon proven technologies that would enable the facility to become operational in less than five years. NLST will be built with international partners providing access to state-of-the-art technologies, while important and substantial components will be developed within India, some with industrial partnerships. The construction of NLST will offer a significant stimulus to India's optical, electronic and technical work force and catalyze future capabilities. When commissioned, NLST is expected to be a unique research tool for the country and the world. Located on Indian soil, it will attract several talented solar astronomers to the country and provide a superior platform for performing high quality solar research. The construction of NLST, and the envisioned back-end instruments, would demand overcoming several technological challenges and generate several spin-offs both directly and indirectly. The telescope will enable us to continue India's tradition of solar studies established more than a century ago and will be a driving force for innovation in advanced instrumentation for the community. In addition to the scientific benefits, the telescope project will spur new economic developments in the Ladakh region and offer direct and indirect employment opportunities for the local population. Given its remote but geopolitically significant location, this facility has great socio-political relevance for the region of Ladakh and the IndianHimalayas. Proposed and led by IIA, the NLST includes participation by several other institutions such as the Udaipur Solar Observatory (PRL),ARIES, ISRO, IISERs and IITs. 5.3.2 National LargeOptical-NIRTelescope A 10-12–meter class telescope in India, the National Large Optical-IR Telescope (NLOT), has been identified as the need of the hour for Indian astronomers. Having a 10-12–meter class telescope in India will provide the optimal facility to pursue multi-messenger astronomy and be competitive with the international community. Internationally, the existing 8-10–meter class telescopes have been set up chiefly in Hawaii or Chile. Other large telescopes exist in N. America, S. Africa and Canary Islands. However, there is no 10-meter class telescope in Asia or Australia. A 10- 12–meter class telescope in India, at a good site like Hanle, would fill the 'longitudinal gap', and would be crucial for multi-messenger and time-domain science. India is partnering to build the 30-meter telescope, the TMT. Access to the TMT will no doubt enable Indian astronomers to do cutting-edge science comparable with their peers elsewhere. However, the gap between the current largest telescope (3.6-meter DOT) and the 30-meter telescope is huge. A 10-12–meter class telescope in the country is essential to effectively utilise India's share of observing nights with the TMT as target selection for observations with the TMT will come typically from the 10-meter class telescopes. The 10-meter telescope will also be essential to train a large number of students and postdoctoral fellows to generate science cases for the TMT. There clearly is a requirement for Indian astronomers to have access to a 10-meter class telescope equipped with state-of-the-art MEGA SCIENCE VISION-2035