Pathway to Devasthal Astronomical Observatory, ARIES

Abstract

Devasthal observatory, established over a time span of about 5 decades, is located in central Himalayan region of Devabhumi in Nainital district of Uttarakhand state, India. Operated and maintained by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES (ARIES), its location was selected after an extensive site survey. The first measurements of atmospheric seeing and extinctions at Devasthal were carried out during 1997 to 2001. Since 2010, three optical telescopes of 1.3 m, 3.6 m and 4 m apertures have been successfully installed at Devasthal. Optical and near infrared observations taken with these telescopes testify to the global competitiveness of Devasthal observatory for astronomical observations. The article chronicles the collaboration with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, beginning around 1996, for the purpose of establishing the observatory. A brief overview of the main science results obtained so far, using these facilities, is also presented.

arXiv comment21 pages, 9 Figures, one Table

References in corpus (28)

• A nearby long gamma-ray burst from a merger of compact objects
• Clear Evidence for Intranight Optical Variability in Radio-quiet Quasars
• Multi-band optical variability of three TeV Blazars on Diverse Timescales
• The dual nature of blazar fast variability. Space and ground observations of S5 0716+714
• Photometric, polarimetric, and spectroscopic studies of the luminous, slow-decaying Type Ib SN 2012au
• Stellar cores in the Sh 2-305 H II region
• Low-mass young stellar population and star formation history of the cluster IC 1805 in the W4 H{\sc ii} region
• TANSPEC: TIFR-ARIES Near Infrared Spectrometer
• The 3.6 meter Devasthal Optical Telescope: From inception to realisation
• Photometric studies on the host galaxies of gamma-ray bursts using 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope
• Comparative intra-night optical variability of X-ray and $\gamma$-ray detected narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies
• Photometric and spectroscopic analysis of the Type II SN 2020jfo with a short plateau
• Pluto's atmosphere in plateau phase since 2015 from a stellar occultation at Devasthal
• Scientific capabilities and advantages of the 3.6 meter optical telescope at Devasthal, Uttarakhand
• First-light images from low dispersion spectrograph-cum-imager on 3.6-meter Devasthal Optical Telescope
• Photometric calibrations and characterization of the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager, the first-light axial port instrument for the 3.6m DOT
• Observations with the 3.6 meter Devasthal Optical Telescope
• Characterisation of Timau National Observatory using limited in-situ measurements
• Multi-band Optical Variability of the TeV Blazar PG 1553+113 in 2019
• Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope observations of Wolf-Rayet dwarf galaxy Mrk 996
• Teutsch 76: a Deep Near-Infrared Study
• Optical detection of a GMRT-detected candidate high-redshift radio galaxy with 3.6-m Devasthal optical telescope
• Deep V and I CCD photometry of young star cluster NGC 1893 with the 3.6m DOT
• History of ARIES: A premier research institute in the area of observational sciences
• Investigating stellar variability in the open cluster region NGC 381
• A Search for Blazar Activity in Broad-Absorption-Line Quasars
• Photometric observations of NGC 281: Detection of 228 variable stars
• Optical Observations of star clusters NGC 1513 and NGC 4147; white dwarf WD1145+017 and $K$ band imaging of star forming region Sh2-61 with the 3.6 meter Devasthal Optical Telescope