25 years of Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT)

The Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), the flagship facility for the Indian ground-based astronomy, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Twenty five years ago, on 26th September 2000, HCT captured its first light image. Since then, HCT is serving the Indian scientific community by providing quality data in optical and near-infrared wavelength regions to pursue research in the forefront areas of Astronomy & Astrophysics. To commemorate this occasion, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics is organising a two-day  meeting on the 29th and 31st of July 2026 to bring together the user community and showcase some of the scientific achievements of the telescope over the past 25 years.