A near-infrared photometer based on an InGaAs PIN photodiode and the filter set recommended by Infrared Working Group (IRWG) have been designed and built. It is mounted on the 1-m Carl–Zeiss telescope at the Vainu Bappu Observatory (VBO) in Kavalur, India. The main science goal is to observe bright sources (<5 magnitude) in the iZ, iJ and iH photometric bands. A discussion of the instrument and on-telescope performance during first-light tests are presented in this paper.

The photometric accuracy in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range (0.9–2.6 $\mu$m) is strongly affected by the variability of atmospheric transmission. The Infrared Working Group (IRWG) has recommendedfilters that help alleviate this issue and provide a common standard of NIR filtersets across different observatories. However, accurate implementation of these filters are yet to be available to astronomers. In the meantime, InGaAs based detectors have emerged as a viable option for small and medium telescopes. The present work explores the combination of IRWG filtersets with InGaAs detectors. A few commercially available filtersets that approximate the IRWG profile are compared. Design of more accurate IRWG filtersets suitable for the InGaAs sensitivity range is undertaken using an open-source filter design software – OpenFilters. Along with the photometric filters iZ, iJ and iH, design of a few useful narrow band filters is also presented. These filters present opportunities for small and medium telescopes for dedicated long-termobservation of interesting infrared sources.

An observatory class national large optical-IR telescope (NLOT), is proposed to be built and located in the country. The telescope consists of a 10–12 m segmented primary. In order to cater to a diversity of observational programs, the telescope is designed with high throughput in both the optical and IRregions (0.3–5 $\mu$m). It should perform reasonably well up to 30 $\mu$m. The telescope and instruments should have remote operations capability, allowing for the queue as well as classical scheduling and high reliability and robustness. This article provides a brief description of the science cases that drive the telescope requirements, activities related to optics design and some thoughts on the instruments.