Kozhikode: Madhava Observatory of Calicut University, the first of its kind in any University in the state, is still not accessible to students and science buffs although the University declared plans to make it popular. The observatory, named after the legendary astronomer Madhava, is only used for research by University students and scholars because of its space constraints and lack of other facilities.
Though the University as part of the policy to renovate the existing facilities in the campus decided to introduce solar observation, the plan has remained on paper.
It is learnt that the project report on the renovation has not been submitted by the physics department, which is in charge of the Observatory.
Set up in association with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru in 2005, the Observatory is the largest at the university level in the country. The 6.6 diameter hemispherical steel dome of the observatory was designed by the IIA. Apart from a main roof with a 1.75 m slit opening, the dome has a wheel assembly, and is a state-of-the-art facility. A 14-inch MEADE (Cassegrain) telescope is the main attraction of this Observatory, which also has a dedicated computer facility with one server and four nodes for data collection and analysis.
Calicut University vice-chancellor Dr K. Mohammed Basheer said that he had directed the person who was in charge to submit the project at the earliest.
