Indian Astronomical Observatory

Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), the IAO is one of the world's highest located sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes.

[4] In the late 1980s, a committee chaired by B. V. Sreekantan recommended that a national, large optical telescope be taken up as a priority project.

[2] The satellite link between the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST), Bangalore, and Hanle was inaugurated by the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on 2 June 2001.

Hanle is categorised as an excellent dark astronomical site with Bortle colour key "Black".

Among these, Uttarakhand has the highest number of public and private night sky observatories, such as Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Devasthal in Nainital district.

also setting up observatories at Abbott Mount in Champawat district, Pithoragarh, Kausani, Jadhang (or Jadung, under the Vibrant Villages programme), and Takula (in Nainital).

In Uttarakhand, a startup named Starscapes also has private astrotourism observatories at Bhimtal, Kausani, and astrovillage Benital in Chamoli district.

Starvoirs, a Chennai-based startup, owns private observatories in nine places across the country, including Rameshwaram, Chidambaram, Kodanad, the Andaman Islands, and Nagaland.

For example, Madikeri in Coorg is surrounded by coffee plantations and natural forests and rates 3 (rural sky) on the Bortle scale.

[citation needed] The designation of dark sky preserve by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a 3-year process, which involves identifying dark sky areas, preparing a development and conservation plan, and submitting a proposal to IDA for the designation.

The HCT is remotely operated from Bangalore from the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) using a dedicated satellite link.

[3] It contains a modified Ritchey-Chretien system with a primary mirror made of ULE ceramic which is designed to withstand low temperatures it experiences.

In the 1980s, a 24-inch (61 cm) Cassegrain telescope was installed at a 90-foot (27 m) height in a huge dome on the observatory in the Punjabi University, Patiala campus.

[citation needed] Since 2011, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has collaborated with the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences of Washington University in St. Louis to operate two 0.5-meter Cassegrain telescopes to monitor active galactic nuclei.

The Center for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) is situated 35 km to the northeast of Bangalore near Hoskote town.