The album contains archival documents related to the building, instruments and observations at the Madras Observatory. It mainly includes an old photo of the Madras Observatory, a photocopy of the first observation taken in 1786 from the observatory, two pictures of Kater's pendulum hung in front of the Haswell clock in the observatory, a sketch of the Madras Observatory building from 1848 Taylor's catalogue and painting of Madras coast by Daniel.

The album contains photos of the initial stages of the Kavalur Observatory campus. Photographs of Director M. K. Vainu Bappu's visit to Kavalur for site inspection and selection for the setting up of the observatory building and workshop. Photos from the construction of 40-inch and 90-inch telescopes, images of albuminization of the 40-inch telescope and the instruments of the telescope can be seen in this album.

The album contains images related to the setting up of the park and garden opposite the Director's office. The pictures of Director R. Cowsik and other IIA staff with the building workers can be seen in this album.

The album contains photographs and some archival material which is preserved in IIA archives: star and sky fast chopping polarimeter, painting of Uranus ring drawn by Vainu Bappu and mural painting of solar eclipse and many other paintings, observation results, national and state levels medals won by M. K. Vainu Bappu.

The album consists of photos from the UVIT MGK Menon lab construction site at the CREST campus, Hoskote. The CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology) campus is one of the centres of IIA where the M.G.K. Menon Laboratory for Space Sciences has been established, which has facilities for integrating and calibrating space payloads. This laboratory also contains equipment for the test and space qualification of components. The photos were taken during the third stage of construction of the lab in 2005.

The album contains photos of the foundation stone laying ceremony by former Director Prof. J. C. Bhattacharyya for the scanner telescope at Kavalur in August 1990. The album includes pictures of the scanner telescope model, 40-inch telescope, Kavalur Observatory, delegates who attended the function, and similar pictures.

The album includes photographs captured during the installation of the H-alpha telescope at Kodaikanal Observatory in 2014 by an expert team from China. The H-Alpha telescope has a 20 cm doublet objective lens that produces a beam at f/7.9. The telescope creates a full-disk image of the sun using extra optics. The telescope can also be used to magnify a portion of the sun's disc. The album includes all stages of the installation process with the caption and instruments associated with the telescope. Photos of the IIA team with the team who came from China and cultural programme photos are also archived in this album. It was installed during the directorship of P. Sreekumar.

The album includes photos of the unveiling ceremony of the Vainu Bappu Telescope, also known as the 90-inch telescope, at Kavalur Observatory on 6th January 1986. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister of India, unveiled the plaque of VBT. Along with this photo, the album comprises images of the Vainu Bappu Observatory telescopes at Kavalur.

The album contains photos taken during the 25th anniversary of the Vainu Bappu Telescope (also called VBT, 2.34m telescope, and 90-inch telescope) installed at Kavalur observatory in 1986. Photos of the jubilee ceremony meeting, presenting a miniature form of the VBT to the persons who were working for VBT by M. G. K. Menon, publishing a book titled ' Vainu Bappu Telescope- Silver Jubilee 2011' by M. G. K. Menon and S. S. Hasan, a talk on the VBT inside the telescope building, exhibition on the theme of VBT in the library of Bangalore campus are organized.

The album contains photos of monasteries, camps, natives, and cultural programs of the natives at Leh. The photos were taken between 1993 and 1994.