Importance of small and moderate size optical telescopes

Abstract

Small and moderate size optical telescopes have advantages over large and giant ones in the areas of efficiency, availability, flexibility and serendipitous and speculative observations. Recent developments in astronomical detectors and instrumentation along with the growth in computers and softwares have increased their capabilities many-fold. They are therefore responsible not only for a number of recent discoveries in astronomy, e.g. detection of microlensing phenomenon, but also for providing valuable optical observations of celestial objects and phenomena discovered at other wavebands, such as radio, infrared, X-ray and y-ray. All these factors make well-instrumented, small and moderate size optical telescopes highly relevant in contemporary astronomy despite competition from 6 tolO m class ground-based optical telescopes and from the 2.3-m Hubble Space F Telescope. Such telescopes in India have an added advantage of geographical location.