About Hanle Dark Sky Reserve:
- Location: It is located in the remote Changthang region of Ladakh.
- It is part of the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, offering Bortle-1 dark skies (the darkest category).
- It is India’s first International Dark Sky Reserve, centred around the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) at Hanle.
- It is managed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology
- The reserve aims to curb light pollution and promote astro-tourism benefiting local communities.
- The reserve is a science-driven socio-economic development project, built on two pillars:
- Curtailing light pollution in the region
- Promoting astro-tourism for local livelihood generation
- Significance of Hanle: Hanle’s pristine dark skies and transparent atmosphere allow observing and photographing faint celestial objects that are often impossible from other locations in India.
