Eastern Ladakh will soon have South East Asia’s first night sky sanctuary, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, while addressing the gathering after inaugurating the exhibition ‘Ladakh’s Pride’ being held to mark the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The tripartite MoU was signed among the Ladakh administration, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics for launching the Dark Sky Reserve.
The Dark Sky Reserve will be located at Hanle village in Eastern Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. It will boost Astro-tourism in India and will be one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infra-red, and gamma-ray telescopes.
Spread over 1,073 square kilometers, the Night Sky Reserve is located within the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent to the Indian Astronomical Observatory, the second-highest optical telescope in the world, of Indian Institute of Astrophysics at Hanle at an elevation of 4500 meters.
At a time when the country is celebrating the success of Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 solar mission, this Dark Sky Reserve will fascinate the stargazers, being among only the 15 or 16 of its kind in the world.
