Pachmarhi Telescope Array

The Pachmarhi Telescope Array is a specialised gamma-ray astronomy installation at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, India, run by one of the country's leading research institutes.

About Pachmarhi Telescope Array

Also known as the Pachmarhi Array of Cerenkov Telescopes (PACT), it is an array of 24 telescopes built to detect the faint flashes of Cerenkov light produced when gamma rays strike the upper atmosphere. It is operated by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, one of India's foremost centres for physics and astronomy research.

Location & getting there

The array is sited at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, in central India, part of the Asia region on Star Register's map. Its location was chosen for the kind of clear, dark conditions that gamma-ray astronomy requires.

Visiting Pachmarhi Telescope Array

As a working research facility rather than a public visitor centre, access is limited; anyone hoping to see the array should check with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research directly before planning a trip.

See your named star from here

Every star named through Star Register comes with precise coordinates, and while PACT itself is tuned to gamma rays rather than visible starlight, the idea is the same everywhere astronomers point an instrument at the sky: a fixed set of coordinates is all it takes to find a star. Name a star of your own, or explore the catalogue to see stars already named.