The work that had been initiated in 2012, came to fruition on 8 January 2024. On this day, at the Sidhu Kanu Birsa University in Purulia town, there was the virtual inauguration of an observatory stationed atop the Panchet Hill in the Garpanchakot area of Purulia district. Stationed at a height of 600 metres above the ground level, this will be a major observatory not only in eastern India, but also along the longitude of 86°E. The observatory has been set up by the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata. Dr Tanusri Saha-Dasgupta, director of S N Bose Centre, said that this was a moment of pride for the centre as it will be able to make significant contribution to the body of knowledge in observational astronomy.
Dr B N Jagatap, chairman of the centre’s governing body, said that the local people should also benefit from this endeavour and there should be initiatives to document the indigenous knowledge systems about the night sky and weather predictions.
Vishvajit Sahay, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Integrated Finance Division of the Department of Science and Technology, who graced the inaugural ceremony, said that an observatory always created its own ecosystem in its vicinity and the Panchet observatory too held that promise.
S N Bose Centre has signed an MoU with the Sidhu Kanu Birsa University for joint responsibility of running the observatory and sharing resources. Dr Pabitra Kumar Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor of SKB University expressed happiness that an observatory of this standard had been set up in Purulia, which was considered a backward district of West Bengal. He added that he would ensure that students of the university got the best out of the endeavour. Another person who took a lot of pride and interest in the project was Vivek Pankaj, SDO, Raghunathpur, Purulia. He was excited by the fact that 1.4 arc second of vision had been obtained by the telescopes installed there.
Dr Ramkrishna Das, Dr Soumen Mondal and Dr Tapas Baug from the Department of Astrophysics and High Energy Physics of SNBNCBS, form the core team for the installation and working of the observatory. They started work in 2018, when the land was handed over to SNBNCBS. Their work included site characterisation, determining astronomical ‘seeing’ and weather parameters and installation of a 14 inch telescope for scientific observations. Because of the dry climatic conditions of Purulia and the lack of dense human habitation in the neighbourhood, one can expect 160 clear days of observation in a year. Presently, using the two telescopes installed, weather conditions and atmospheric turbulences are measured on a daily basis. A research scholar from Sidhu Kanu Birsa University is in charge of the daily measurements. Soon, another telescope with a diameter of 1.5 metre will be installed.
Renowned astrophysicist Prof Somak Raychaudhury commented that the positioning of this observatory bore much significance for studying transient stellar phenomena on a global scale, since there are few observatories along the longitude of 86 degrees East. The Panchet observatory bears much promise for the global scientific community and the local people at the foothills.
*With inputs from the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata.
