Speaker
Description
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), India, has been operating a 1.2m optical-near infrared (NIR) telescope at Gurushikhar peak, Mt. Abu, India, since the mid-1990s and is establishing another 2.5m telescope at the same site, which will be operational by the end of 2022. Optical and NIR spectroscopy studies of transients (novae, supernovae etc.) have been a forte of the observatory's science programs. The larger aperture of the upcoming 2.5m telescope has opened an exciting window to probe such events (and related objects) with the technique of spectro-polarimetry as well. We have been designing a multi-mode, two-channel instrument named - Mt. Abu Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera-Echelle Polarimeter (M-FOSC-EP) for the 2.5m telescope. M-FOSC-EP would provide the capabilities of intermediate resolution spectro-polarimetry (resolutions ~ 15000), grism based low-resolution spectroscopy (R~700-800), and seeing limited imaging in the visible wavelength range (3900-9900 angstroms). The optical design of the instrument has been completed recently, and currently, the mechanical design is being optimized. Another instrument, named - ProtoPol, is also being developed using off-the-shelf optical components as a precursor prototype of the M-FOSC-EP. ProtoPol can be used on the existing 1.2m telescope as well as on the upcoming 2.5m telescope. M-FOSC-EP and ProtoPol offer novel designs and approach to develop the capabilities of spectro-polarimetry on small aperture telescopes. Here we shall present the designs and the simulated performance of these instruments.