TIRUPATHUR: The Vainu Bappu observatory celebrated the golden jubilee of its 40-inch optical telescope at Kavalur in Tirupathur district on Friday. It was installed in 1972 and comes with a mirror with a diameter of 102 cm.
The 50th celebrations also witnessed a talk, wherein the retired staff of the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which runs the observatory as one of its field stations, shared their experience of having worked with the telescope. Set up in 1964, the observatory houses several telescopes, the largest of which is 93-inches. It was set up in 1986 and inaugurated by former PM the late Rajiv Gandhi. In addition to producing scientific results, the telescopes have aided in training optical astronomers, read a press note.