View of the Night Sky from the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in India

Photographers: Abhinav Singhai; Atish AmanSummary Author: Atish AmanFeatured above is a 360 x 180-degree photo of the sky captured near the MACE telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle Dark Sky Reserve . At 14,010 ft (4,270 m) above sea level, Hanle is one of the highest dark sky reserves in the world, providing excellent Bortle 1 skies. In this photo, taken during the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve Star Party on December 10, 2023, a number of interesting astronomical phenomena can be observed:1.The greenish-yellow glow towards the top of the image is not light pollution but airglow.2. The band of the Milky Way stretches diagonally across the image.

3. Venus is at upper right, and Jupiter is near the center of this image.4.The triangular glow of the zodiacal light is at lower right.

5. The Gegenschein or counterglow is at left center, to the left of Venus.Photo Details: 360 x 180-degree panorama using an 8 mm fisheye lens on a Nikon D810a camera.

Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, India Coordinates: 32.77923, 78.97676

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