World's Highest Observatory

Occultation of Venus by the crescent Moon as seen above the world’s highest observatory. Hanle observatory or the Indian Astronomical Observatory, operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, stands on a 4500 meters peak in the western Himalayas near the village of Hanle, in eastern Ladakh, India. The location of the observatory (and the village) is highly sensitive due to the close proximity of the Tibetan / Chinese border and special permission is needed to visit by the Indian Government. © Raghu Kalra, Ajay Talwar, Pankaj Sharma.