Vainu Bappu Observatory - Revision history

Mittie94U89577: fix details as per guidelines and fixed typos

2026-03-21T17:55:07Z

fix details as per guidelines and fixed typos

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:25, 21 March 2026
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	{{Use Indian English\|date=April 2014}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=April 2014}}
	{{Infobox observatory		{{Infobox observatory
	\| name = ~~Vaini~~ Bappu Observatory		\| name = Vainu Bappu Observatory
	\| image = 93-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG		\| image = 93-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG
	\| caption = The 93-~~inch~~ telescope seen from the 40-~~inch~~ telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory		\| caption = The 2.1-meter telescope seen from the 1-meter telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory
	\| organization = Indian Institute of Astrophysics		\| organization = Indian Institute of Astrophysics
	\| location = [[Kavalur]], [[Vaniyambadi\|Vaniyambadi Taluk]], [[~~Tirupattur~~ district]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]		\| location = [[Kavalur]], [[Vaniyambadi\|Vaniyambadi Taluk]], [[Tirupathur district]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
	\| altitude = 700 m (2,297 ft)		\| altitude = 700 meters (2,297 feet)
	\| weather =		\| weather =
	\| established = 1986		\| established = 1986
	\| telescope1_name = Vainu Bappu Telescope		\| telescope1_name = Vainu Bappu Telescope
	\| telescope1_type = 2.3 m reflector		\| telescope1_type = 2.3 meter reflector
	\| telescope2_name = [[Carl Zeiss AG\|Carl Zeiss]] telescope		\| telescope2_name = [[Carl Zeiss AG\|Carl Zeiss]] telescope
	\| telescope2_type = 1 m reflector		\| telescope2_type = 1 meter reflector
	\| telescope3_name =		\| telescope3_name =
	\| telescope3_type =		\| telescope3_type =
	}}		}}

	[[File:40-inch telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG\|thumb\|40-~~inch~~ telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]		[[File:40-inch telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG\|thumb\|1-meter telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]
	[[File:15-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG\|thumb\|15-~~inch~~ telescope seen from the 40-~~inch~~ telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]		[[File:15-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG\|thumb\|38-centimeter telescope seen from the 1-meter telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]
	The '''Vainu Bappu Observatory''' is an [[astronomy\|astronomical]] [[observatory]] owned and operated by the [[Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]. It is located at [[Kavalur]] in the [[Javadi Hills]], near [[Tirupathur district\|Vaniyambadi]] in [[Tirupathur district~~\|Tirupattur district~~]] in the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]]. It is 200 km south-west of [[Chennai]] and 175 km south-east of [[~~Bangalore~~]].		The '''Vainu Bappu Observatory''' is an [[astronomy\|astronomical]] [[observatory]] owned and operated by the [[Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]. It is located at [[Kavalur]] in the [[Javadi Hills]], near [[Tirupathur district\|Vaniyambadi]] in [[Tirupathur district]], [[Vellore]] region in the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]]. It is 200 km south-west of [[Chennai]] and 175 km south-east of [[Bengaluru]].

	==History==		==History==
	The Vainu Bappu Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics traces its origin back to 1786 when [[William Petrie]] set up his private observatory at his garden house at Egmore, Madras, which eventually came to be known as the Madras Observatory. Later it was moved to Kodaikanal and functioned there as the [[Kodaikanal Observatory]] since 1899.<ref name=Vellore>{{cite web\|title=Vainu Bappu ~~Observtory~~\|url=http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm\|website=Vellore District Website\|publisher=Vellore District Administration, Government of Tamil Nadu\|access-date=28 August 2014\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222024358/http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm\|archive-date=22 February 2015\|url-status=dead}}</ref>		The Vainu Bappu Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics traces its origin back to 1786 when [[William Petrie]] set up his private observatory at his garden house at Egmore, Madras, which eventually came to be known as the Madras Observatory. Later it was moved to Kodaikanal and functioned there as the [[Kodaikanal Observatory]] since 1899.<ref name=Vellore>{{cite web\|title=Vainu Bappu Observatory\|url=http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm\|website=Vellore District Website\|publisher=Vellore District Administration, Government of Tamil Nadu\|access-date=28 August 2014\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222024358/http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm\|archive-date=22 February 2015\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

	However, Kodaikanal had very few nights available for observation and hence astronomers searched for a new site after India's independence.<ref>{{cite news\|last1=Rajan\|first1=Mohan Sundara\|title=Scanning the sky from Kavalur\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1012/1/IF2.2.pdf\|access-date=28 August 2014\|work=The Hindu\|date=12 February 1978}}</ref> [[Vainu Bappu\|M.K. Vainu Bappu]] who took over as the director of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1960, found a sleepy little hamlet called Kavalur in the Javadi Hills as a suitable site for establishing optical telescopes for observing celestial objects. This came to be known as Kavalur Observatory.<ref name=Vellore />		However, Kodaikanal had very few nights available for observation and hence astronomers searched for a new site after India's independence.<ref>{{cite news\|last1=Rajan\|first1=Mohan Sundara\|title=Scanning the sky from Kavalur\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1012/1/IF2.2.pdf\|access-date=28 August 2014\|work=The Hindu\|date=12 February 1978}}</ref> [[Vainu Bappu\|M.K. Vainu Bappu]] who took over as the director of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1960, found a sleepy little hamlet called Kavalur in the Javadi Hills as a suitable site for establishing optical telescopes for observing celestial objects. This came to be known as Kavalur Observatory.<ref name=Vellore />
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	==Location==		==Location==

	Kavalur observatory is located in Kavalur in the Javadi Hills in Alangayam. The Kavalur Observatory is located in a ~~100~~-~~acre~~ forest land in Tamil Nadu which is strewn with a variety of greenery of tropical region besides a number of medicinal plants with an occasional appearance of some wildlife like deer, snakes and scorpions. Several varieties of birds have also been spotted in the campus. The observatory is at an altitude of 725m above mean sea level (longitude 78° 49.6' E ; latitude 12° 34.6' N). Apart from being reasonably away from city lights and industrial areas, the location has been chosen in order to be closer to the earth's equator for covering both northern and southern hemispheres with equal ease. In addition, its longitudinal position is such that it is the only major astronomical facility between Australia and South Africa for observing the southern objects.<ref name=Vellore />		Kavalur observatory is located in Kavalur in the Javadi Hills in Alangayam. The Kavalur Observatory is located in a 40-hectare forest land in Tamil Nadu which is strewn with a variety of greenery of tropical region besides a number of medicinal plants with an occasional appearance of some wildlife like deer, snakes and scorpions. Several varieties of birds have also been spotted in the campus. The observatory is at an altitude of 725m above mean sea level (longitude 78° 49.6' E ; latitude 12° 34.6' N). Apart from being reasonably away from city lights and industrial areas, the location has been chosen in order to be closer to the earth's equator for covering both northern and southern hemispheres with equal ease. In addition, its longitudinal position is such that it is the only major astronomical facility between Australia and South Africa for observing the southern objects.<ref name=Vellore />

	==Initial setup==		==Initial setup==
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	** 4096×4096 pixels TEK CCD, with a pixel size of 12 micrometres		** 4096×4096 pixels TEK CCD, with a pixel size of 12 micrometres
	** At CASSEGRAIN focus:		** At CASSEGRAIN focus:
	*** Medium-resolution ~~spectroploarimeter~~		*** Medium-resolution [[spectropolarimeter]]
	*** Medium-resolution Optometrics Research spectrograph (OMRS)		*** Medium-resolution Optometrics Research spectrograph (OMRS)
	* Detector		* Detector
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	==Discoveries==		==Discoveries==
	The 1-metre telescope is associated with two unique discoveries in the ~~solar system~~. In 1972, atmosphere was detected around [[Jupiter]]'s satellite [[Ganymede (moon)\|Ganymede]]<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Carlson\|first1=R W\|title=An atmosphere on Ganymede from its occultation of SAO 186800 on 7 June 1972\|journal=Science\|date=Sep 1973\|volume=182\|issue=4107\|pages=53–55\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/4602\|access-date=26 August 2014\|doi=10.1126/science.182.4107.53\|pmid=17829812\|bibcode = 1973Sci...182...53C }}</ref> and in the year 1977, participated in the observations that confirmed rings were discovered around the planet [[Uranus]].<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Bhattacharya\|first1=J C\|title=Discovery of a New Satellite of Uranus\|journal=Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India\|date=Mar 1977\|volume=5\|issue=1\|page=19\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/503\|access-date=26 August 2014\|bibcode = 1977BASI....5...19B }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|title=Ringed Uranus Confirmed\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1059/1/E7.2.pdf\|access-date=26 August 2014\|agency=Press Trust of India\|work=Deccan Herald\|date=28 April 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Bhattacharya\|first1=J C\|title=The rings of Uranus: story of its discovery\|journal=Aakash Journal of the Indian Astronomical Society\|date=1980\|volume=1\|issue=2\|pages=10–15}}</ref> In 1984, Kavalur reported the discovery of a thin outer [[Planetary ring\|ring]] around [[Saturn]].<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Vasundhara\|first1=R\|title=Possible Detection of a Ring System in Saturn's Magnetosphere\|journal=Nature\|date=Dec 1984\|volume=312\|issue=5995\|pages=621–623\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3788\|access-date=26 August 2014\|doi=10.1038/312621a0\|bibcode = 1984Natur.312..621V }}</ref>		The 1-metre telescope is associated with two unique discoveries in the [[Solar System]]. In 1972, atmosphere was detected around [[Jupiter]]'s satellite [[Ganymede (moon)\|Ganymede]]<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Carlson\|first1=R W\|title=An atmosphere on Ganymede from its occultation of SAO 186800 on 7 June 1972\|journal=Science\|date=Sep 1973\|volume=182\|issue=4107\|pages=53–55\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/4602\|access-date=26 August 2014\|doi=10.1126/science.182.4107.53\|pmid=17829812\|bibcode = 1973Sci...182...53C }}</ref> and in the year 1977, participated in the observations that confirmed rings were discovered around the planet [[Uranus]].<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Bhattacharya\|first1=J C\|title=Discovery of a New Satellite of Uranus\|journal=Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India\|date=Mar 1977\|volume=5\|issue=1\|page=19\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/503\|access-date=26 August 2014\|bibcode = 1977BASI....5...19B }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|title=Ringed Uranus Confirmed\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1059/1/E7.2.pdf\|access-date=26 August 2014\|agency=Press Trust of India\|work=Deccan Herald\|date=28 April 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Bhattacharya\|first1=J C\|title=The rings of Uranus: story of its discovery\|journal=Aakash Journal of the Indian Astronomical Society\|date=1980\|volume=1\|issue=2\|pages=10–15}}</ref> In 1984, Kavalur reported the discovery of a thin outer [[Planetary ring\|ring]] around [[Saturn]].<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Vasundhara\|first1=R\|title=Possible Detection of a Ring System in Saturn's Magnetosphere\|journal=Nature\|date=Dec 1984\|volume=312\|issue=5995\|pages=621–623\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3788\|access-date=26 August 2014\|doi=10.1038/312621a0\|bibcode = 1984Natur.312..621V \|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

	On 17 February 1988, a new minor planet was discovered using the 45 cm [[Schmidt telescope]]. It has been named [[4130 Ramanujan]] after the Indian mathematical genius [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]]. This is the first such discovery from [[India]] in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Rajamohan\|first1=R\|title=Discovery of asteroid number 4130\|journal=Current Science\|date=Sep 1989\|volume=58\|issue=18\|page=998\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3975\|access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>		On 17 February 1988, a new minor planet was discovered using the 45 cm [[Schmidt telescope]]. It has been named [[4130 Ramanujan]] after the Indian mathematical genius [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]]. This is the first such discovery from [[India]] in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal\|last1=Rajamohan\|first1=R\|title=Discovery of asteroid number 4130\|journal=Current Science\|date=Sep 1989\|volume=58\|issue=18\|page=998\|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3975\|access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>
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	==External links==		==External links==
	* [~~http~~://www.iiap.res.in~~/centers~~/vbo The Vainu Bappu Observatory]		* [https://www.iiap.res.in/vbo.htm The Vainu Bappu Observatory]
	* [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~astro/vbo.html Trip to the Vainu Bappu Observatory at Kavalur]		* [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~astro/vbo.html Trip to the Vainu Bappu Observatory at Kavalur]
	{{Commons category}}		{{Commons category}}
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	[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Tamil Nadu]]		[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Tamil Nadu]]
	[[Category:~~Buildings and structures in Vellore~~ district]]		[[Category:Tirupathur district]]
	[[Category:Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]		[[Category:Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]
	[[Category:Tourist attractions in ~~Vellore~~]]		[[Category:Tourist attractions in Tirupathur district]]

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2021-08-12T14:14:35Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox observatory
| name = Vaini Bappu Observatory
| image = 93-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG
| caption = The 93-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory
| organization = Indian Institute of Astrophysics
| location = [[Kavalur]], [[Vaniyambadi|Vaniyambadi Taluk]], [[Tirupattur district]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
| altitude = 700 m (2,297 ft)
| weather =
| established = 1986
| telescope1_name = Vainu Bappu Telescope
| telescope1_type = 2.3 m reflector
| telescope2_name = [[Carl Zeiss AG|Carl Zeiss]] telescope
| telescope2_type = 1 m reflector
| telescope3_name =
| telescope3_type =
}}

[[File:40-inch telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG|thumb|40-inch telescope building at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]
[[File:15-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory.JPG|thumb|15-inch telescope seen from the 40-inch telescope at Vainu Bappu Observatory]]
The '''Vainu Bappu Observatory''' is an [[astronomy|astronomical]] [[observatory]] owned and operated by the [[Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]. It is located at [[Kavalur]] in the [[Javadi Hills]], near [[Tirupathur district|Vaniyambadi]] in [[Tirupathur district|Tirupattur district]] in the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]]. It is 200 km south-west of [[Chennai]] and 175 km south-east of [[Bangalore]].

==History==
The Vainu Bappu Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics traces its origin back to 1786 when [[William Petrie]] set up his private observatory at his garden house at Egmore, Madras, which eventually came to be known as the Madras Observatory. Later it was moved to Kodaikanal and functioned there as the [[Kodaikanal Observatory]] since 1899.<ref name=Vellore>{{cite web|title=Vainu Bappu Observtory|url=http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm|website=Vellore District Website|publisher=Vellore District Administration, Government of Tamil Nadu|access-date=28 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222024358/http://www.vellore.tn.nic.in/Research%20Institiute/kavalur.htm|archive-date=22 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

However, Kodaikanal had very few nights available for observation and hence astronomers searched for a new site after India's independence.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rajan|first1=Mohan Sundara|title=Scanning the sky from Kavalur|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1012/1/IF2.2.pdf|access-date=28 August 2014|work=The Hindu|date=12 February 1978}}</ref> [[Vainu Bappu|M.K. Vainu Bappu]] who took over as the director of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1960, found a sleepy little hamlet called Kavalur in the Javadi Hills as a suitable site for establishing optical telescopes for observing celestial objects. This came to be known as Kavalur Observatory.<ref name=Vellore />

Observations began in 1968 with a 38 cm telescope made in the backyard of the Kodaikanal Observatory.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kavalur comes of age|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1008/1/IF1.2.pdf|access-date=28 August 2014|work=The Times of India|date=20 January 1986}}</ref>

==Location==

Kavalur observatory is located in Kavalur in the Javadi Hills in Alangayam. The Kavalur Observatory is located in a 100-acre forest land in Tamil Nadu which is strewn with a variety of greenery of tropical region besides a number of medicinal plants with an occasional appearance of some wildlife like deer, snakes and scorpions. Several varieties of birds have also been spotted in the campus. The observatory is at an altitude of 725m above mean sea level (longitude 78° 49.6' E ; latitude 12° 34.6' N). Apart from being reasonably away from city lights and industrial areas, the location has been chosen in order to be closer to the earth's equator for covering both northern and southern hemispheres with equal ease. In addition, its longitudinal position is such that it is the only major astronomical facility between Australia and South Africa for observing the southern objects.<ref name=Vellore />

==Initial setup==
The first telescope was of 38 cm (15-inch) aperture, with which astronomical observations were started in 1968 at Kavalur Observatory. The 75 cm (30-inch) telescope has been completely designed and fabricated at the workshops of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. In 1972 a 1-metre (40-inch) telescope made by Carl Zeiss Jena was installed at Kavalur.<ref name=Vellore />

==2.3-metre Vainu Bappu Telescope==
Vainu Bappu started the 2.3-metre (93-inch) aperture telescope, designed and built within the country. Bappu died in 1982 and would not see the completion of the telescope.<ref name=Vellore /> On 6 January 1986, the observatory was renamed as Vainu Bappu Observatory and the 2.3-metre telescope as Vainu Bappu Telescope.<ref name=Vellore /> The telescope is so powerful that it can easily resolve a 25 paise coin kept forty kilometres away. Deep sky observations are carried out with this telescope using a variety of focal plane instruments. The equatorially mounted horse-shoe-yoke structure of the telescope is ideally suited for low latitudes and permits easy observation near the north celestial pole. The telescope has a F/3.25 paraboloid primary of 2.3 m diameter with the prime focus image scale of 27 arcsec/mm and a Cassegrain focus image scale of 6.7 arcsec/mm. This telescope has been operated as a national facility and attracts proposals from all over the country and sometimes from outside India.<ref name=Vellore />

==Equipment==
The observatory is home to the Vainu Bappu Telescope, the largest telescope in Asia until a 3.6-meter telescope was set up at Devasthal, Nainital, by ARIES. It has a diameter of 2.3 meters and was first used in 1986. Along with the Vainu Bappu telescope, the observatory has two other telescopes: A 1-meter Zeiss manufactured and another 75-centimeter Cassegrain reflector currently being refurbished. The observatory also has a [[Fabry–Pérot interferometer]].
* Technical details
** Primary mirror diameter: 234 cm
** Prime focus: f/3.25 with a scale of 27".1/mm
** Cassegrain focus: f/13 with a scale of 6".8/mm
** Guiding: remote, manual guiding
* Instruments available
** At PRIME focus:
*** Imaging camera with a 3-element Wynne corrector
*** High-resolution Echelle spectrograph
* Detector
** 4096×4096 pixels TEK CCD, with a pixel size of 12 micrometres
** At CASSEGRAIN focus:
*** Medium-resolution spectroploarimeter
*** Medium-resolution Optometrics Research spectrograph (OMRS)
* Detector
** 1024×1024 pixels TEK CCD, with a pixel size of 24 micrometres

==Discoveries==
The 1-metre telescope is associated with two unique discoveries in the solar system. In 1972, atmosphere was detected around [[Jupiter]]'s satellite [[Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Carlson|first1=R W|title=An atmosphere on Ganymede from its occultation of SAO 186800 on 7 June 1972|journal=Science|date=Sep 1973|volume=182|issue=4107|pages=53–55|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/4602|access-date=26 August 2014|doi=10.1126/science.182.4107.53|pmid=17829812|bibcode = 1973Sci...182...53C }}</ref> and in the year 1977, participated in the observations that confirmed rings were discovered around the planet [[Uranus]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bhattacharya|first1=J C|title=Discovery of a New Satellite of Uranus|journal=Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India|date=Mar 1977|volume=5|issue=1|page=19|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/503|access-date=26 August 2014|bibcode = 1977BASI....5...19B }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ringed Uranus Confirmed|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/bitstream/2248/1059/1/E7.2.pdf|access-date=26 August 2014|agency=Press Trust of India|work=Deccan Herald|date=28 April 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bhattacharya|first1=J C|title=The rings of Uranus: story of its discovery|journal=Aakash Journal of the Indian Astronomical Society|date=1980|volume=1|issue=2|pages=10–15}}</ref> In 1984, Kavalur reported the discovery of a thin outer [[Planetary ring|ring]] around [[Saturn]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Vasundhara|first1=R|title=Possible Detection of a Ring System in Saturn's Magnetosphere|journal=Nature|date=Dec 1984|volume=312|issue=5995|pages=621–623|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3788|access-date=26 August 2014|doi=10.1038/312621a0|bibcode = 1984Natur.312..621V }}</ref>

On 17 February 1988, a new minor planet was discovered using the 45 cm [[Schmidt telescope]]. It has been named [[4130 Ramanujan]] after the Indian mathematical genius [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]]. This is the first such discovery from [[India]] in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rajamohan|first1=R|title=Discovery of asteroid number 4130|journal=Current Science|date=Sep 1989|volume=58|issue=18|page=998|url=http://prints.iiap.res.in/handle/2248/3975|access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>

==Scientific activities==
Front-line research is being carried out with the help of the optical telescopes at Vainu Bappu Observatory using several focal plane instrumentational facilities. The ongoing programmes include observations of [[star]]s, [[star clusters]], [[nova]]e, [[supernovae]], [[blazars]], [[galaxies]], optical imaging of [[gamma-ray]] burst fields, stellar populations, solar system objects and many others.

The telescopes at the observatory had started with relatively modest [[focal plane]] instruments and later on graduated to more sophisticated ones. These include cameras for fast photography, [[photoelectric]] [[photometer]]s, a single-channel photoelectric spectrum scanner, a medium resolution [[spectrograph]], a [[quartz-prism]] calibration spectrograph, [[infrared]] photometer, image tube spectrograph, a Universal Astronomical Grating Spectrograph (UAGS from [[Carl Zeiss AG|Zeiss]]), high-resolution echelle spectrograph and a [[polarimeter]]. Photographic plates were the principal detectors in the early days. Presently the [[charge-coupled device]]s (CCD) have replaced the photographic plates. Some micro-processor-controlled photon counting systems were designed and fabricated which have been used in a variety of observational projects. A fibre linked echelle spectrograph is under construction.

On campus maintenance facilities like aluminising plants for coating the telescope mirrors, mechanical and electrical workshops, electronics labs, along with a [[liquid nitrogen]] plant are at hand for the smooth functioning of the observatory. Highly advanced technical facilities like SUN workstations are available at the telescopes for handling the CCD data, along with specialised data reduction packages such as IRAF, STSDAS and DAOPHOT. Communication facilities, like e-mail via VSAT satellite connection, are available for all users for the telescopes.

A programme of ultraflow dispersion spectroscopy was successfully used to survey stars in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]] (LMC). Of the ten supernovae observed so far, SN1987A in LMC was observed in great detail using the 1 m and the 75 cm telescopes despite its low elevation in the southern sky, proving the worth of the geographic location of Kavalur. In fact the observations of the supernova were started within 48 hours of the discovery.

Observational studies of evolved stars, in particular studies related to their evolutionary aspects, carried out at this observatory, have received critical acclaim and international recognition. The observational facilities at this Observatory have yielded many PhD theses for the scholars of the Institute as well as of other institutes and universities in the country.

==See also==
* [[List of astronomical observatories]]
* [[Nizamia observatory]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.iiap.res.in/centers/vbo The Vainu Bappu Observatory]
* [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~astro/vbo.html Trip to the Vainu Bappu Observatory at Kavalur]
{{Commons category}}
{{Telescopes and Observatories in India}}
{{Portal bar|India|Astronomy|Stars|Spaceflight|Outer space|Solar System|Education|Science}}

[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Vellore district]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Astrophysics]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Vellore]]