Transparent Observatory

Passing clouds and startrails over the Himalayas and rotating dome of the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), located near Leh in Ladakh, India. Located at 4500 meters altitude of Mt. Saraswati near the village of Hanle it is one of the world’s highest sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes. As noted by the photographers “It is never possible to properly photograph a telescope housed in a dome. If you are inside the dome its an awkward angle. From outside the narrow opening of the dome is never enough to show the entire telescope – unless you make the dome transparent by rotating it 180° during the exposure, as you see in this photograph.” © Ajay Talwar, Vikrant Narang, Raghu Kalra