Development of Astronomical Spectroscopy at IIA

Prof. T. P. Prabhu

Date & Time: 18th November 2020: 4PM

Title: Development of Astronomical Spectroscopy at IIA

Abstract: Spectroscopic techniques were close to Prof. Bappu’s heart, and he actively promoted spectroscopic studies from the observatory at Kavalur which now bears his name. During the last decade of his life, Bappu fabricated several equipment for very low resolution objective spectroscopy at one end and high resolution coude spectroscopy at the other. IIA has continued the tradition of equipping its telescopes with state-of-the-art spectrographs. I summarize about four decades of developments of spectrographs I have witnessed at IIA for use with telescopes at Vainu Bappu Observatory, Kavalur and Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle. I will also provide some examples of scientific studies that motivated these developments.