Kodaikanal Solar Observatory
Grubb-Parsons Spectro Heliograph (Film – Photograph not available) | | |
WARM [White Light Active Region Monitoring] Telescope | H-alpha Telescope – 6562.8 A (Lower Chromosphere Telescope) | |
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TWIN Telescope | SPECTRO – Telescope | |
{{{telescope5_name}}} | Radio spectrograph – 35–85 MHz daily operation |
The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory is a solar observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is on the southern tip of the Palani Hills 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kodaikanal.
The Evershed effect was first detected at this observatory in January 1909. Solar data collected by the lab is the oldest continuous series of its kind in India. Precise observations of the equatorial electrojet are made here due to the unique geography of Kodaikanal.
They have a full-time staff of two scientists and three technicians.
History
As early as 1881, Mr. Blanford, then Meteorological Reporter to the Government of India, recommended "the improvement of the work of solar observations in order to obtain accurate measures of the sun’s heating power at the earth’s surface and its periodic variations".[2] In May 1882, the government astronomer at Madras,
On 20 July 1893 following a famine in Madras Presidency, which underscored the need for a study of the sun to better understand monsoon patterns, a meeting of the
The first observations were commenced at Kodaikanal in 1901.[3]
Partial List of Assistant Directors
- John Evershed[4] 1906–1911
- Thomas Royds[5] 1911–1923
- Anil Kumar Das[6] 1937–1946
List of Directors
- Charles Michie SmithFRSE1895–1911
- Charles Pritchard Butler[9]
- John Evershed 1911–1923
- Thomas Royds 1923–1937
- A. L. Narayan 1937–1946
- Anil Kumar Das 1946–1960
- M. K. Vainu Bappu 1960–1982
- J.C.Bhattacharya 1982-1990
- Ramnath Cowsik 1992 - 2003
- S.Siraj Hasan 2006 - 2012
- P.Sreekumar 2013 - 2018
- Annapurni Subramanian 2019–Present
A 12 m solar tower with modern spectrograph was established in 1960 by
In 1977, many of the astronomers from Kodaikanal shifted to Bangalore and established the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.[10]
Current activities
Areas of current interest at the observatory are
- Observations and interpretation of the morphological changes in active regions and their role in occurrence of transients such as solar flares.
- Study of contributing factors to chromospheric calcium K indices.
- Measurement of vector magnetic fields.
- Photographs of ~ 117 years are being digitized for long-term studies of the last ten solar cycles, in an effort led by Dipankar Banerjee.
- Studies on the structure and dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere and its response to the solar and interplanetary variability are being carried out.
- Studies of the equatorial electrojet and of the structure and dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere and its response to solar and interplanetary variability are being made.
- Hourly observation of surface atmospheric sciences.
- Public education about astronomy including tours of the facility, access to the astronomy library, nighttime telescopic sky viewing, and presentation of specialized university-level courses, seminars and workshops.
Equipment
Full disc imaging
A 15 cm aperture English-mounted
Twin
Light from the 46 cm siderostat is diverted to a 15 cm Zeiss achromat objective which provides an f/15 beam and a 2 cm image. A prefilter and a daystar Ca K narrow band filter are used together with a Photometrix 1k x 1k CCD to record the K filtergram.[11] Regular observations began in 1996. Besides synoptic observations, temporal sequences are being obtained on days of good to excellent seeing.
Solar tunnel telescope
A
A
The converging solar beam from the objective can be diverted to a high dispersion spectroheliograph with Littrow arrangement using a 3.43 m achromat. The photographic camera behind the second slit is being replaced by a Raticon linear array and a data acquisition system.
Ionosondes
The lab is equipped for studying the ionospheric and geomagnetic effects of solar activity. A NBS C3 analogue ionosonde was installed in 1955, for vertical soundings of the ionosphere. Quarterly soundings were made round the clock. In 1993, a digital ionosonde model IPS 42/DBD43 was commissioned enabling five minute or better sounding rates.
Other facilities
A high frequency Doppler radar was built indigenously and made operational to study F-region Skywave dynamics.
A lacour magnetometer and a Watson magnetometer were installed and have been used regularly at the observatory since the early 1900s.
They also have a broadband
The observatory has a popular astronomy
The library is one of the observatory's proud possessions. It has a collection of astronomical literature, which is of archival value. The library maintains a skeletal collection of current literature in solar and solar terrestrial physics.
The modern meeting and accommodation facilities are often used for national and international meetings, workshops and classes for up to 40 participants on subjects such as Kodaikanal Summer School in Physics, the Kodai-Trieste Workshop on Plasma Astrophysics[12] and the Solar Physics Winter School.[13]
See also
References
- ^ Global Atmosphere Watch, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Dübendorf, Switzerland. Station Characteristics, Kodaikanal Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Monthly Weather Review: May, 1906
- ^ Indian Institute of Astrophysics - A Brief History, Solar Observatory at Kodaikanal, retrieved 3/13/2007.[1]
- .
- .
- Bibcode:1961QJRAS...2..278.Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- Bibcode:2014arXiv1402.6189K.
- .
- ^ "1953MNRAS.113..294. Page 294". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Swarup Govind, "Historical perspective and research centres in India in the fields of solar astronomy and Sun-Earth relationship," National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, TIFR, Pune 411007, India. retrieved 3/13/2007 [2]
- ^ Darling David, The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight, filtergram, retrieved 3/13/2007.
- ^ Kodai-Trieste workshop on Plasma Astrophysics retrieved 3/13/2007 Archived 2012-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Indian Institute of Astrophysics, 2006 Solar Physics Winter School, retrieved 3/13/2007.[3]
External links
- Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Kodaikanal Observatory
- Subramanian, T.S. (1999) the Hindu, Volume 16-Issue 13, June 19. "Centenary of a solar observatory", retrieved 3/13/2007
- Madras and Kodaikanal Observatories : A Brief History
- Cambridge University Library: Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, archive papers 1892-1963, retrieved 3/13/2007.
- Further reading: Antia H. M., Bhatnagar A., Ulmschneider P. (ed.s) (2006) Lectures on Solar Physics (Lecture Notes in Physics), Cambridge University Press, New York, 335 pages Excerpts, retrieved 3/13/2007