Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT)

The Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) is located in Muthorai near Ooty, in southern India. It is part of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), which is funded by the Government of India through the Department of Atomic Energy. The radio telescope is a 530-metre (1,740 ft) long and 30-metre (98 ft) wide cylindrical parabolic antenna. It operates at a frequency of 326.5 MHz with a maximum bandwidth of 15 MHz at the front end.

Click here to see Google Arts & Culture (The story of Building the Ooty Radio Telescope)

Challenges Faced While Building

The first challenge was to find a suitable site for the new telescope. In early 1965, after an extensive site survey by Swarup and his student Ramesh Sinha, a site was found on a hill near Ooty in present day Tamil Nadu.

The site was located at an altitude of about 2100 m in the Nilgiri Hills. In late 1965, Homi Bhabha approved the construction of the ORT. A few days later, Bhabha tragically died in an air crash in Switzerland.

The construction started in 1966 and was initiated by the new TIFR Director Prof. MGK Menon.The challenges in construction were numerous and formidable. A complex engineering feat on this scale had never been attempted in India and Swarup’s group had to work closely with Indian industry to implement their design.

Bridge and Roof Co.INDIA LTD Telescope Completion News.