A long-exposure {photograph} of stars over the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Ladakh.
| Photo Credit: Akash Anandh
The temperatures have been subzero and freezing. The situations have been unforgiving. We have been elated and thrilled being outdoor all night time.
At 4,300 metres above sea stage, we felt it may have been the Everest Base Camp. In actuality, we have been at Hanle, in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The air is so skinny at such altitudes that the oxygen stage is lower than 60% of what one is often used to at sea stage. Before getting right here, we needed to acclimatise ourselves for 48 hours at Leh, at an altitude of three,500 m, earlier than climbing as much as Hanle.
It is unquestionably not for everybody. But it was actually for us: we have been a bunch of beginner astronomers invited by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) to attend the HDSR Star Party 2023, organised and performed by IIA.
The Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR) is India’s first darkish sky area, and is centred at Hanle in Eastern Ladakh, round the Indian Astronomical Observatory. HDSR preserves the darkish skies by lowering gentle air pollution in the surrounding areas, and makes use of these darkish skies to advertise astrotourism as a way to additional improve socio-economic growth in the space.
Seeing into darkish skies
A darkish sky is the night time sky as nature meant for it to be: with none gentle air pollution. Light from the human-made objects that we use – particularly outside lighting sources – blocks our view of the stars and most celestial objects in the night time sky.
Ironically, a darkish sky helps you to see higher. From inside a light-polluted metropolis, we are able to sometimes see solely a handful of stars. But from a darkish web site, we are able to see 1000’s in the similar location of the sky.
Apart from stars, the Milky Way’s galactic centre and its arms are clearly seen to the bare eye. We can even see a number of star clusters, nebulae, galaxies comparable to the Andromeda and the Triangulum.
Zodiacal gentle – a faint glow of diffuse daylight scattered by interplanetary mud in the Solar System; airglow – an optical phenomenon attributable to faint emission of sunshine in the earth’s environment; and gegenschein – a vivid spot in the night time sky centred at the antisolar level, induced because of backscatter of daylight by interplanetary mud – are additionally seen.
Venus could be so vivid in the night time sky that its gentle can forged shadows on the floor, simply as moonlight does.
A begin to one thing massive
Although a few of us astrophotographers have been conscious of the theories of those optical phenomena and the incontrovertible fact that we may see so many stars and celestial objects beneath the darkest of skies, it was nonetheless an amazing feeling to really observe and expertise them beneath the Bortle Class 1 skies of Hanle.
The Bortle Scale helps beginner astronomers measure the night time sky’s brightness at a given location. The scale ranges from Class 1, the darkest skies out there over the earth, via to Class 9, which denotes the pale, light-marred skies over the insides of cities.
A sense of thrill in addition to warning stuffed the skinny air beneath the darkish skies of Hanle. Observing outdoor in these harsh situations – with or with out tools – meant one needed to be each strong-willed and cautious. But it was value each second as warning quickly led to exhilaration after which marvel.
For us beginner astronomers, the three nights and days of the HDSR Star Party made for a fantastic alternative to watch beneath pristine night time skies. We may additionally join with fellow beginner astronomers who had come from varied elements of the nation: they have been skilled amateurs in addition to younger ones with starlit eyes.
We additionally received to rub shoulders with skilled astronomers, exchanging concepts and knowledge on all issues astronomy, together with the particulars of visible remark and the strategies of astrophotography, in addition to share massive telescopes and imaging tools throughout the occasion. In all, it was an unforgettable expertise.
Being the first ever darkish sky reserve in the nation, HDSR is actually a supply of delight for India and might be a blueprint for different darkish websites in different areas. And identical to at Hanle, upcoming darkish sky reserves can even promote astrotourism, which is able to assist each beginner astronomers like us in addition to native communities.
The Star Party can be extremely more likely to evolve into an annual occasion, and I’m glad that I used to be a part of the profitable first version of the HDSR Star Party this yr. It was expertly and thoughtfully deliberate and performed by Dorje Angchuk, who’s the engineer-in-charge at the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle, and Niruj Mohan Ramanujam, head of the IIA SCOPE Section.
I consider the occasion was a fantastic begin to one thing massive for informal stargazers, passionate beginner astronomers, and our space-loving nation as an entire.
(Akash Anandh is an beginner astronomer, astrophotographer, author, and science communicator)
akash.anandh@gmail.com
