Do you know what we did this summer at the #ITOFF facility at IIAstrophysics #CRESTIIA? The behemoth being wheeled in is the Draper Machine. This will hold a mirror segment of TMTHawaii 🔭 while grinding and polishing it to nanometre accuracy! DSTIndia DAE India ASI Public Outreach and Education Committee

The Draper was assembled by the engineers at India-TMT Optics Fabrication Facility run by IIAstrophysics at #Hosakote near #Bengaluru. The state-of-art tech was provided by Coherent Corp.. ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics and IIA are the nodal institutes for the India-TMT project.

Doesn't it look pretty, all put together at #ITOFF in #CRESTIIA? DSTIndia DAE India Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India Annapurni Subramaniam

After installing the Draper Machine, it's time to power it ON! Draper Rotation ✅ Arm movement✅ Pin Movement✅ 📌#ITOFF at #CRESTIIA, #Hosakote #Bengaluru TMTHawaii DSTIndia DAE India ASI Public Outreach and Education Committee IIAstrophysics ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India

This fancy structure is the Stress Mirror Polishing (SMP) Fixture. The glass roundel sits on it to get all polished and shined for the #ThirtyMeterTelescope 🔭 IIAstrophysics ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics Annapurni Subramaniam Ramya Sethuram Karthic Kumar M Anupama G.C. Prasanna Deshmukh

With this innovative SMP tech obtained in collaboration with Coherent Corp., #India will soon roll out mirror segments for the TMTHawaii project from #ITOFF IIAstrophysics #CRESTIIA Campus.

Anyone under stress needs support, and our Roundel mirrors are no exception! The SMP floatation system provides exactly this. Pics show this system being aligned. Media Credits: Srishti Vikranth Niruj Mohan TMTHawaii IIAstrophysics ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics

The Engineers at ITOFF at #CREST campus IIAstrophysics had a bonding session with the Glass Roundel! ITCC Optics Engineer Alikhan Basheer explains the Bonding Process. 📽️ TMTHawaii DSTIndia DAE India Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India

This activity is very Rigorous! 🎯Mirror Roundel centering 🧹Bondpad cleaning 🧪Epoxy preparation Bondpads connect the Mirror roundel on top of the SMP fixture. 🤝 IIAstrophysics ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics

After the bonding is done the glass roundel is ready to get stressed!😨 Can you count how many bond pads are attached here? Srishti Vikranth IIAstrophysics ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics Annapurni Subramaniam Ramya Sethuram Karthic Kumar M Anupama G.C. Prasanna Deshmukh Niruj Mohan

We worked out a lot at the #ITOFF at #CREST campus of IIAstrophysics From the SMP to the Draper, to the Roundels on the Draper, and finally the 2Dp on the roundels - it was a workout for the overhead cranes for sure! TMTHawaii

Handling the polished mirror roundel carefully is of utmost importance! With these highly polished mirror segments, #TMTHawaii will give us unprecedented views of the cosmos! IIAstrophysics. ARIES Inter-University Centre for Astronomy&Astrophysics DAE India DSTIndia Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India

Watch this video for #expert explanation of the #commissioning activities at #ITOFF by Dr. Sriram, Optics Engineer at #ITCC and Head of Optics Div. IIAstrophysics. Annapurni Subramaniam Ramya Sethuram Karthic Kumar M Anupama G.C. Prasanna Deshmukh Niruj Mohan Alikhan Basheer

Since we need to achieve #nanometer accuracy while making @tmthawaii mirrors at #ITOFF at #CREST IIAstrophysics, we're extra thorough with our measurements! Watch the #metrology process to see how we check the warping of our mirror roundels. DAE India DSTIndia Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India

The 2D profilometer has 61 probes. These probes take 6 sets of readings to check if the mirrors have been warped and polished correctly. That's a total of 366 measurements! This process will be done for all the mirrors manufactured at #ITOFF.

In this video of #ITOFF #engineering #insights, Dr. Sriram tells us about the warping process of mirror roundels! In-kind contributions to the @tmthawaii project will enable IIAstrophysics @ARIES @IUCAA to get access to the state-of-the-art #ThirtyMeterTelescope!

What that in the sky, you ask? Our new #SkySCOPE campaign will tell you where to look up and when! And you may see something really amazing! DSTIndia ASI Public Outreach and Education Committee DOOT Annapurni Subramaniam COSMOS Mysuru Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India India Science TV Channel

Asteroids, Atta & Astronomy! We bring you a vid of what we did on #AsteroidDay 30 June with school students to recreate impact craters. It was a fun way to figure out how crater size and shape varies with speed of the stone. Vid: Srishti Asteroid Day ☄ ASI Public Outreach and Education Committee DSTIndia

A short video from our team on #Chandrayaan3 launch and landing, with never before seen footage from our own auditorium! ISRO DSTIndia Annapurni Subramaniam ASI Public Outreach and Education Committee #Chandrayaan3Landing #PragyanRover #VikramLander