Optics
A 203 mm aplanatic tube.
A Celestron EdgeHD: mirrors and a corrector folded into a short tube, with a field flat enough for an APS-C sensor.
The instrument
One telescope, working as one system.
Purākaash is a catadioptric telescope on a tracking mount, with a cooled camera, a guide scope and a small computer that runs the session. The parts come from several makers. Our work is making them behave as one instrument.
- 203 mmAplanatic optical train
- H-alpha / O IIINarrowband imaging
- CMOSCooled scientific detector
This is a completed instrument-integration example, not a claim of independently certified performance or in-house manufacture of every component.
What is in it
Four parts that have to agree.
Mount
It turns with the sky.
An iOptron equatorial mount on a steel tripod turns against the Earth’s rotation, so a faint object stays on the same pixels through a long exposure.
Camera and filters
Cooled, and narrowband.
A cooled CMOS camera with H-alpha and O III filters. They pass only the light that glowing gas emits, which is how a nebula can be imaged through a city’s skyglow.
Guiding and control
One small computer runs the session.
A guide scope watches one star and corrects the mount. A ZWO ASIAIR controller handles plate solving, autofocus and FITS capture, and a dew heater keeps the optics clear.
What we added
Software, and a guide.
Our own software integration brings the mount, cameras, guiding, focusing and imaging into one repeatable workflow, so a night’s work can be done the same way twice.
Purākaash also carries an AI guide. It explains how to set up, align, focus and operate the telescope, and why each observing choice is made, in English and Bengali. The aim is that a student can learn the instrument by using it.
How it came together
From boxes to a night outside.
The parts arrive: optical tube, mount, tripod and counterweights. 
First assembly: the mount on its tripod, the tube about to go on. 
Fitting the controller and the guide scope. 
The software: mount, cameras and focuser brought under one workflow. 
Set up on the roof and checked in daylight. 
Out under a city sky.
Why it exists
A window to the universe. A guide for the mind.
“Purākaash is not only designed for celestial observation but also stands as a symbol of Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra’s vision — where science and spirituality converge, guiding us to study universal laws, consciousness, and cosmic order as an integral system.”
It is meant to be a hands-on classroom for students, an instrument for public observing, and a training ground for future researchers. It is privately owned and was built with a patron’s support.
Where it stands
Built and commissioned.
The instrument is assembled and working as one system. Its images of the sky, and observing sessions for students, come next.
Done
- Assembled and commissioned in October 2025.
- Mount, cameras, guiding and focusing brought under one control workflow.
- Portable: it travels in cases and sets up on a tripod.
Next
- Images of the sky taken with it, published here with their capture details.
- Public observing and student sessions, the purpose it was built for.
Instruments, case by case
Planning a telescope of your own?
Custom telescope systems and integration projects are discussed case by case. Write to founder@vishwavigyan.com with your observing goals, location and existing equipment.
Projects