The Vainu Bappu Observatory is located about 175 km south-east of Bangalore, and about 200 km south-west of Chennai (formerly Madras).

Latitude : 12° 34'
Longitude : +78° 50'
Altitude : ~700m

Local Time : Indian Standard Time (IST) : IST = GMT + 05 30hrs

CONTACT

Vainu Bappu Observatory
Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Kavalur, Alangayam 635 701 INDIA
Tel : 91 (04174) 203014

Kodaikanal Solar Observatory
Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Kodaikanal 624 103 INDIA

A 20 cm refractor at the Observatory is used occasionally for cometary and occultation observations. It is also sometimes made available to visitors for night sky viewing. There is a small Astronomy museum in campus for the visitors.