Cattle and horses grazing near the Assy Turgen observatory, Assy Plateau, Kazakhstan

---

The Assy Plateau is an area of plains above Almaty near the Tien Shan Mountains. The local people live in traditional yurts and practice ancient herding lifestyle with horses, sheep, goats and cows. In the clear air and lack of light pollution, high up on the Assy Plateau above Almaty, Kazakhstan, stands the deserted Assy Turgen Observatory, build around 1981 by Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute. It contains two telescope towers and supporting buildings, and a 1-meter telescope was launched in 1991. Dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in suspension of activities; the site appears abandoned except for a couple of caretakers.

---

Size: 7360px × 4906px
Location: Assy Plateau, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Photo credit: © Terry Allen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: assy, astrophysical, clouds, culture, fesenkov, golden, grasses, high, hills, institute, kazakhstan, mountains, observatory, plains, plateau, rolling, russian, shan, telescopes, tien, travel, turgen