Nights in dark Ladakh: Stars, galaxies and even a supernova

We had been warned. It will be bitterly cold. Totally dark. You’re at 14,000 feet. There’s less oxygen in the air than at home. You’ll fumble with the buttons on your camera. Your mind will get befuddled, you’ll walk slower, you’ll feel the strain of going up even gentle ramps.

With all that in mind, late one night I decided to take a break from hours of photographing the night sky. Thought I’d spend an hour or so downloading what I had got already that night. Must have been about 1.30am when I turned the camera off, made sure once more that it was securely fastened to the tripod, and trudged the 10-12 minutes to the dining hall, the last part up a gentle ramp. Find a chair, catch my breath, warm up a bit, do the download, take a 20 minute nap and head back out – such was my thinking.

Only, when I got there and removed most of my four layers of clothes and shoes and two pairs of socks, I realised I had forgotten the little device I needed to download my photos. Put everything I had removed back on and trudged back through the cold and dark to the...

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