The sky is completely free of gases again and now it is time to rebuild and recover the ash-covered landscapes. We will continue to work towards this. Without a doubt, we now have one more attraction: volcanoes. And when you combine volcanoes and stars, the show is on. Some places have volcanoes, others have stars, but La Palma has both in the same place and its landscapes are unique.

Soon we will have a new activity that combines volcanoes and stars. See here.

La entrada The vulcano eruption in La Palma is over se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

The astrotourism in La Palma wins the 2018 Fitur Award in the category of best active tourism product. The award accredits astrotourism the excellent public-private collaboration model of astrotourism on the island of La Palma. This long-awaited award was collected by the Councillor for Tourism of the La Palma Island Council, Alicia Vanoostende, as well as Carlos Fernández (Isla Bonita and Canary Islands Tourism Award in 2017) and Ana García Suárez, CEO of AstroLaPalma.

This award undoubtedly ensures the consolidation and positive evolution of astro-tourism in La Palma. From the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the large scientific facilities that do great science to the small companies related to astrotourism, many efforts have been made to make La Palma a unique star destination in the world. Furthermore, La Palma was chosen in 2017 by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as a global example of evolution and strengthening of astrotourism and in 2015 it was awarded the Tourism Merit Plaque (Spanish Ministry of Tourism).

Book your astronomy tour and discover it for yourself! If you prefer to see on your onw, visit one of the astronomy viewpoints on the island or visit the Observatory.

La entrada Astrotourism in La Palma wins Fitur Award. se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

The Promenade of Stars of Science is an original idea of Anselmo Pestana, the President of the Island Council back in 2015, when the project started. The Cabildo Insular de la Palma, the Santa Cruz Town Hall and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias are participating in the project. Unfortunately, the Prominade has taken 5 years to be carried out as first, the remodelling of the beach had to be completed. The event held this December 2020 has revealed the Stars that currently make up the “Paseo de la Ciencia”. The four scientists awarded have personal and professional links with the island, hence, have been the first ones to be acknowledged.

Stephen Hawking

The first star is by Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and cosmologist linked to the Starmuss Festival held on La Palma and who was last on the island in 2016, shortly before his death. Hawking, who was the first to receive his star in 2016, is the author of many of the discoveries in modern astrophysics, such as the new theory of space-time and black hole radiation (“Hawking” radiation). Hawking worked throughout his life to unravel the laws that govern the universe and, together with Roger Penrose, he demonstrated that Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity implies that space and time must have a beginning, which would be the theory of the Big Bang, and an end, within black holes.

Alexei Leonov

The second star was for cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, who has also visited the island several times; Leonov was the first man to go on a space walk, on 18 March 1965, having been part of the first group of 20 cosmonauts in the Soviet space programme, set up in 1960. He was also the Soviet team commander of the first joint mission between the Soviet Union and the United States, Apollo-Soyuz.

Takaaki Kajita

The third Star (awarded in 2017) went to Takaaki Kajita of Japan, director of the Cosmic Neutrinos Centre at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015, along with Arthur B. McDonald for their research on neutrino oscillations. Their research showed that these subatomic particles have mass. As the Swedish Academy’s prize jury pointed out, “their studies changed the understanding of the innermost behaviour of matter and may be crucial for understanding the Universe”.

Kajita is currently leading a major international collaboration project, the “Cherenkov Telescope Array“, which aims to study the gamma radiation that reaches the Earth and how it is produced. La Palma is the northern hemisphere headquarters for this project. Kajita laid the first stone of the prototype (LST) of the 23 telescopes projected on La Palma, just one week after receiving her Nobel Prize.

Samuel Ting

The fourth and last Star awarded to date (2018) has been for Samuel Ting, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1976. The American particle physicist of Chinese origin belongs to the prestigious MIT in the United States, and has been a professor there since 1969. He received the Nobel Prize in 1976 for the discovery of the J particle, which once again consolidated the standard particle theory. Samuel Ting leads a project for the observation of neutrinos on the Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-0), with the aim of testing fundamental questions in modern physics including the existence of antimatter, the origin of comic rays and dark matter.

This collaborative project, involving more than 600 physicists, has collected 80 billion cosmic rays in 10 years. Ting’s team also aims to test whether the Big Bang model is true, when it predicts that there should be an equivalent amount of matter and antimatter in the Universe. For the moment, astronomers have not been able to find the antimatter and this is one of the great mysteries of the Universe. This is why many physicists believe that primordial antimatter simply does not exist. AMS-0 could prove whether it exists, or if on the contrary, a completely new theory is needed to explain antimatter or the Big Bang.

Next….Jocelyn Bell

It has been awarded the fifth Star, but unfortunately it has not yet been delivered due to the covid19. The Star is for Jocelyn Bell, the discoverer of the first radio pulsar signal in 1967, what has been an undoubted contribution to science. We will have a special article dedicated to Jocelyn Bell soon.

La entrada Promenade of Stars of Science in La Palma se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

The island of La Palma, “the beautiful island” of the Canary Islands is one of the best places in the world for stargazing. It is not necessary to be an expert if you wish to learn about constellations and to enjoy a starry night. In La Palma it can be very easy and entertaining and you could do it, for example, in one of our astronomy tours. Did you know about them?

But why is the sky of La Palma so beautiful and transparent? There are many factors that allow this: humidity, altitude, climate, low air pollution… La Palma is a pioneer protecting dark skies. From 1988 has a law that protects against light pollution (Low of the Sky). It is aimed to minimize light pollution and for this even flora helps! In fact, it was the world’s first Starlight Reserve, a UNESCO certification that certifies the ideal conditions for observing the sky for everyone, not just professionals, and it guarantees its protection.

In any case … why look for even more reasons to come to La Palma? The most important thing is that the sky and landscapes are beautiful that are worth seeing any thime! Nothing equals how you can feel almost touching the stars or walking along a volcanic sand beach on this island. In a single day you can be in a volcanic desert in the south and see the only active salt flats of the Canary Islands (Salinas de Fuencaliente), walk through a tropical rainforest in the north (Los Tilos or the Forest of La Galga), walking at the National Park (Taburiente National Park), go swimming or climb above the clouds to see stars …. Only a few places in the world offer so many contrasts and beautiful landscapes in such a small area.

La Palma is a mini-continent that never ceases to surprise.

La entrada Stargazing in La Palma se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

We are happy to be among an elite group of winners including hotels, restaurants and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a superior customer experience.

We would like to thank all our clients in general and those who took the time to complete a review in particular. We are really proud of our team in AstroLaPalma first and also in LaPalmaStars.com who with dedication and professionalism have learnt from clients reviews and are always ready to work hard.

La entrada We won our Hall of Fame certificate and Certificate of Excellence 2018 on Tripadvisor! se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

Light pollution is defined as the introduction of artificial light to an ecosystem (into naturally dark situations), degrading its natural state with the emission of light of different intensities, directions, spectral range and/or unnecessarily varying a light/dark schedule (ie. having lights on a empty office building or streets lights on after certain times).

It is obvious that humans need and use artificial light during the night just…well…simply to live. But the use of artificial light should be in equilibrium with the nocturnal life, energy efficiency and health (avoiding the alteration of sleep patterns and the effect of artificial light at night on some cancers). We should try to minimize the impact of light pollution reducing the negative effects by designing better street lighting, scheduling of street lights, etc.

Light pollution increases the background brightness of the sky by reflecting and diffusion artificial light into the gases and particles in the air. This results in a reduction of visibility of the stars and other celestial objects.

The Sky Law in the Canary Islands (1989) controls gas emissions to the atmosphere on the island, as well as light pollution and air communications routes. The aim of the law is to have transparent and dark sky, with good (if not outstanding) quality for both amateur and professional astronomy. As a result, La Palma is a Dark Reserve (a Starlight Reserve) and thanks to this it has developed a Sustainable Tourism Industry based on the sky. There are many options for astrotourism in La Palma, we recommend you to enjoy the sky in one of our astronomy tours.

La entrada What is light pollution? se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.