Vainu Bappu Observatory 2.3 meters and was first used in 1986. Along with the Vainu Bappu telescope, the observatory has two other telescopes: A 1-meter Zeiss manufactured and another 75-centimeter Cassegrain reflector currently being refurbished. The observatory also has a Fabry–Pérot interferometer. The 1-metre telescope is associated with two unique discoveries in the solar system. In 1972, atmosphere was detected around Jupiter's satellite Ganymede and in the year 1977, participated in the observations that confirmed rings were discovered around the planet Uranus. In 1984, Kavalur reported the discovery of a thin outer ring around Saturn. On 17 February 1988, a new minor planet
Solar System in fiction close to the Sun and its surface was exposed to extremes of temperature. The asteroids were too tiny and airless. By the early 20th century, prospects for life in the Solar System focused on Venus, the larger moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and especially Mars. With the onset of the Space Age, planetary probes cast increasing doubt on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life in the Solar System, at least life of any magnitude greater than organisms such as bacteria. By the mid-1960s, it was firmly established that life could have no foothold on the hostile surfaces of Mercury or Venus,