Milky Way over India’s Historic Telescope

This image shows the Milky Way’s galactic center rising above the 104-cm Sampurnanand Telescope at ARIES, Manora Peak, Nainital (~1950 m elevation). The telescope—an Ritchey–Chrétien reflector (f/13) on a two-pier English equatorial mount—was installed in 1972 by Carl Zeiss, Germany, and remains one of India’s longest-serving optical facilities. For over five decades it has contributed to research on star clusters, star-forming regions, active galactic nuclei, supernovae, and optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. ARIES celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2022, marking 50 years of successful scientific operations.
This photograph juxtaposes India’s enduring astronomical heritage with the dense starfields, dark dust lanes, and nebulae of the Milky Way core. I feel truly grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to work with this historic telescope, which has been a gateway to the cosmos for generations of astronomers.

Nikon D810 with 14-24MM F/2.8
With stable tripod

Processed in Pixinsight and Adobe Photoshop