Q. National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) is a proposed ground-based 2-m class optical and near infra-red (IR) observatory in the country. It is proposed to be established in which of the following states?
Answer: Jammu & Kashmir
Notes: India’s indigenous National Large Solar Telescope has been proposed to be set up at Merak village on Shore of Pangong Lake in Jammu & Kashmir’s Ladakh region. The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) is considered as one of the world’s most powerful and largest solar telescopes with an aperture size of two meters. Currently, the world’s largest solar telescope is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope with an aperture size of 1.6 metres in Kitt Peak National Observatory at Arizona in the US. The National Large Solar Telescope is known for its ability to do both day and night astronomy. The telescope will help in understanding the process of creation and decay of sunspots (darker, cooler areas on the surface of the sun in a region called the photosphere), apart from furthering cutting-edge research on other fundamental processes taking place on Sun.