Indian Astronomical Observatory

The Indian Astronomical Observatory ( Indian Astronomical Observatory ) is located on Mount Saraswati in the Western Himalayas near the Indian city of Jammu and Kashmir in Hanle and is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is located at 32 ° 46 '46 "N, 78 ° 57' 51" O32.77944444444478.964166666667Koordinaten: 32 ° 46 '46 "N, 78 ° 57' 51" E at an altitude of 4500 m. It began operation in 2001.

In 1993, the systematic search began for a suitable location for the observatory by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. 1994 the decision was made for the site at Hanle and from December 1994 was a permanent stock for construction of the building.

It has an optical 2 -meter infrared telescope and is remotely controlled by Hosakote in Karnataka. In addition, a 0.5 -m telescope to study Active Galactic nuclei, which is operated together with the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. A second 0.5 - m telescope is under the cooperation project in Arizona, which both telescopes are spaced apart 180 ° longitude.