Discovering World's Highest Observatory at Hanle Ladakh India

‪@Rambler9‬
In this educational video, I have let the scientists speak.
If you are planning to visit Hanle in Ladakh, make sure to visit the Hanle Observatory. It is @4500 metres altitude and the wind will try to push you as much as you will try to resist. There is no telescope installed at altitude higher than this.
The location of Hanle Ladakh is ideal for installation of such telescopes. Because it has nearly 270 rain-free days in the year. It is dry and has least light disturbance because there are no major towns around.

Entry to the Indian Observatory will give you an insight of the 2m dia telescope, how it works and more details. The telescope which picks up data from space through infra-red Rays, is 26 year old and still running. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore runs it remotely through a dedicated satellite, from its centre in Hokisote Karnataka.
The observation affair which begins after nightfall is not for public but scientists doing research on astronomical matters.
At the base of this Mount, there is another telescope called MACE telescope which works on the technology of Gama-Ray to pick up data from the Galaxy and beyond. This telescope is looked after by Bhabha Atomic Research Centtre Trombay. This also is not for public.
There has been talks of empowering the village communities in Hanle with small sized telescopes for their education and promotion of night skygazing to the tourists and visitors to Hanle. It is not confirmed whether this initiative has taken off yet. But privately a few Homestays may be having some smaller telescopes which they rent out to guests and visitors. In addition, there are promoters of groups Astro tourism which organises trips to Hanle, Ladakh. Browse online for such groups.
On a clear night, set your mobile camera on tripod. You may catch some fantastic images of the night sky. Lucky if you get the Aurora too. Even with naked eyes you should be able to watch the wonderful night sky at Hanle.


DARK SKY PRESERVE

In September 2022, the area surrounding Hanle became India's first dark-sky preserve.[7] The Hanle site is deemed to be excellent for visible, infrared and submillimeter observations throughout the year.[3] Specifically the observation conditions yield about 255 spectroscopic nights per year, approximately 190 photometric nights per year and an annual rain plus snow precipitation of less than 10 cm. In addition, there are low ambient temperatures, low humidity, low concentration of atmospheric aerosols, low atmospheric water vapour, dark nights and low pollution.[2] The preserve extends to the 6 hamlets of Hanle revenue village - Bhok, Dhado, Punguk, Khuldo, Naga and Tibetan Refugee habitation within 1073 sq km Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary in Changthang plateau. North, south, east and west four extremities of the preserve are between a distance of 19.6 km to 22 km from the observatory.[8]
The darkness of the night sky is classified on the Bortle scale from 1 ("excellent", i.e., extremely dark) to 9 ("Inner-city sky", i.e., partially dark). Hanle is categorised as an excellent dark astronomical site with Bortle colour key ‘Black’.[9] The dark sky is important for the conservation of nocturnal animals and ecology. To minimize light pollution and to ensure dark skies, Hanle preserve has many restrictions such as lights being indoors only in certain places, mandatory light-blocking curtains on windows and doors, street light colors limited to yellow, no high beam headlights on vehicles, no vehicle movements at night, and more.[10]

MANY TELESCOPES

The Observatory has several active telescopes. These are the 2.01 meter optical-infrared Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), GROWTH-India telescope, Cassegrain telescope, and a High Altitude Gamma Ray Telescope (HAGAR). The HCT is remotely operated from Bangalore from the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) using a dedicated satellite link.

Video and photo credits: Ladakh UT administration, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Trombay, Nabanita Sarkar

Camera Gopro Action 11, Oneplus 8T, Apple Ipad.
Software: Davinci Resolve 18.6
Edited on Apple Macbook Pro