BINA (Belgo-Indian Network for Astronomy and Astrophysics) is a research network recently funded
by BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy Office) and DST (Department of Science & Technology, India) in order to
foster scientific collaborations between Indian and Belgian astronomers. The intent is to make a best use
of the new 3.6-m DOT and 4.0-m ILMT telescopes located in Devasthal (ARIES, Uttarakhand, India).
BINA will help in the financial organisation of astronomical workshops in India and in Belgium during
which astronomers will discuss scientific and instrumentation projects aimed at maximizing the scientific
return of the two new facilities. BINA will also fund the trip and stay in India (resp. Belgium) of Belgian
(resp. Indian) astronomers to promote scientific collaborative projects making use of the 3.6-m DOT and
4.0-m ILMT telescopes.
Overview of the Belgian (top) and Indian (bottom) partner institutes of BINA. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Indian Partner Institutes
Principle Investigator : Dr Santosh Joshi
ARIES = Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences
Location: Nainital, India
Contact: S. Joshi
BOSE = S.N. Bose Institute
Location: Kolkata, India
Contact: S. Mondal
DU = Delhi University - North Campus
Location: Delhi, India
Contact: H.P. Singh
IIA = Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Location: Bangalore, India
Contact: A. Goswami
IIST = Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology
Location: Thiruvananthapuram, India
Contact: R. Lekshmi
ISAC = ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)
Location: Bangalore, India
Contact: V. Girish
IUCAA = Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
Location: Pune, India
Contact: A.N. Ramaprakash
KU = Kumaun University
Location: Nainital, India
Contact: A.K. Durgapal
NCRA-TIFR = National Center for Radio Astrophysics - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Location: Pune, India
Contact: I. Chandra
PRL = Astronomy & Astrophysics Division
Location: Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
Contact: S. Ganesh
RSU = Pt. Ravi Shankar University
Location: Raipur, India
Contact: N.K. Chakradhari
TIFR = Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Location: Mumbai, India
Contact: D.K. Ojha
ROB = Royal Observatory of Belgium
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Contact: P. De Cat
UAntwerpen/KU Leuven = Universiteit Antwerpen/Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Location: Antwerp, Belgium/Louvain, Belgium
Contact: K. Kolenberg
UGent = Universiteit Gent
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Contact: M. Baes
ULB = Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Contact: A. Jorissen
ULiege = Universite de Liege
Location: Liege, Belgium
Contact: J. Surdej
Indo-Belgian Telescopes
DOT@ARIES = 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope
location: Devasthal observatory (Devasthal, India)
operated by: Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (Nainital, India)
instruments: optical and near-infrared imaging, narrowband and broadband photometry, low-resolution spectroscopy
ILMT@ARIES = 4-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope
location: Devasthal observatory (Devasthal, India)
operated by: Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (Nainital, India)
instruments: CCD direct imaging
Other Telescopes Of Interest
2.34-m@VBO = 2.34-m Vainu Bappu Telescope
location: Vainu Bappu Observatory (Kavalur, India)
operated by: Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bangalore, India)
instruments: imaging camera, medium resolution spectropolarimeter, medium resolution optometrics research spectrograph & high-resolution echelle spectrograph
2-m@HCT = 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope
location: Indian Astronomical Observatory (Leh, Ladakh, India)
operated by: Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bangalore, India)
instruments: HFOSC (Himalaya Faint Object Spectrograph), near-IR imager, HESP (Hanle Echelle Spectrograph) & optical CCD imager
2-m@IUCAA = 2-m telescope
location: Girawali Observatory (Junnar, India)
operated by: Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune, India)
instruments: IUCAA Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (IFOSC) & Princeton Instruments CCD (PI-CCD)
1.3-m@ARIES = 1.3-m Robotic Telescope (Devasthal, India)
location: Devasthal observatory (Devasthal, India)
operated by: Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (Nainital, India)
instruments: AIMPOL (ARIES Imaging Polarimeter) & CCDs
1.2-m@PRL = 1.2-m Infrared Telescope
location: Mount Abu Observatory (Rajasthan, India)
operated by: Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad, India)
instruments: NICMOS infrared camera and spectrograph, imaging Fabry-Perot spectrometer, high time resolution infrared photometer, optical polarimeter, fibre-linked grating spectrograph & high resolution optical spectrometer
1.04-m@ARIES = 1.04-m Sampurnanand telescope
location: ARIES observatory (Nainital, India)
operated by: Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (Nainital, India)
instruments: CCD, three-channel fast photometer & polarimeter
GMRT@NCRA-TIFR = Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
location: GMRT Observatory (Khodad, India)
operated by: National Center for Radio Astrophysics (Pune, India) - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai, India)
instruments: 30 parabolic 45-m dishes spread over up to 25 km for radio interferometry
AstroSat = India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory
location: 650-km, near-equatorial orbit (space)
operated by: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC; Bangalore, India)
instruments: Two 38-cm UltraViolet Imaging Telescopes (UVIT), Soft X-ray telescope (SXT), three co-aligned identical Large Area X-ray Proportional Counters (LAXPC), Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) & Charged Particle Monitor (CPM)
1.2-m@RMO = 1.2-m Mercator telescope
location: Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain)
operated by: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Louvain, Belgium)
instruments: HERMES (high-resolution spectroscopy) & MAIA (3-channel fast photometer)
access: through Belgian collaborators from institutes in HERMES consortium (KU Leuven, ROB, ULB)
all@ESO = all telescopes of the European Southern Observatory
location: La Silla Observatory (Chile), Paranal Observatory (Chile), Llano de Chajnantor Observatory (Chile)
operated by: European Southern Observatory (Garching, Germany)
access: through Belgium
6.0-m@SAO = 6.0-m (BTA)
location: Special Astrophysical Observatory (Zelenchuksky District, Russia)
instruments: main stellar spectrograph, nasmyth �chelle spectrometer, digital speckle interferometer, spectral camera with optical reducer for photometric and interferometric observations, multi-mode spectrograph & multicolor panoramic photometer-polarimeter)
access: through bilateral programme between India and Russia
all@SAAO = all telescopes of the South African Astronomical Observatory
location: South African Astronomical Observatory (Sutherland, South Africa)
operated by: South African Astronomical Observatory (Cape Town, South Africa)
access: through bilateral programme between India and South Africa