Indian sungazers keep up family tradition for four generations

Sunlight beams through the dome of the solar tunnel telescope at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, India, February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

KODAIKANAL, India (Reuters) - In the early morning darkness, Devendran P. walks up a hill to a solar observatory in India's southern hill town of Kodaikanal, trudging the same path his father and grandfather walked in a century-old family tradition of studying the sun.

Once inside, he pulls a rope to open shutters in the dome and positions a six-inch telescope used since 1899 to photograph the sun and preserve a daily record of its activity.