Hanle Observatory is located on a lonely peak, known as Mount Saraswati, in the western
Himalayas at
Hanle. Standing at about 14,800 ft above sea level, in the cold region of
Ladakh, it is the world's highest astronomical observatory. This remote controlled observatory is managed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in
Bangalore.
The observatory's telescope was christened the "Chandra" in honor of the India-born astrophysicist and Nobel laureate S Chandrashekhar. This telescope has a mirror a little over two meters (6.5 ft) large, which gives a better view of the distant stars and galaxies.
Hanle Observatory can be approached from
Leh, which is about 200 km away.
