Solar telescope operationalised at Udaipur observatory

Udaipur: Udaipur Solar Observatory has operationalised a unique telescope 'Multi Application Solar Telescope' (MAST) for detailed study of solar activities, which could facilitate space weather predictions in the future.

The observatory, situated on an island in the middle of Fatehsagar lake, is a part of the Physical Reasearch Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous unit of the Department of Space, which operationalised the telescope recently.

"Unlike other telescopes, MAST is capable to capture three-dimensional aspects of the solar magnetic fields further enabling the scientists to get a better understanding of the solar flares and eruptions taking place in such twisted magnetic fields," according to a release.

Using MAST, the scientists can plan to extend the studies to other layers using multiple spectral line diagnostics. This way they would get a 3-D picture of the phenomena. "We plan to provide a long-time data base to obtain lasting contributions from MAST on outstanding solar cycle related problems like behaviour of magnetic stresses as a function of the epoch of the solar cycle," said Prof Venkatakrishnan, who led the team of scientists.