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 year 2020 has meant a change in the world view for the vast majority of people since the incidence of covid19 has made us rethink the way we live and travel. Some places have remained almost immune to this, such as the island of La Palma, where the number of covid cases has been the lowest in Europe.

In an era after coronavirus, La Palma is a safe and healthy destination. New ways of travelling are here, with longer stays, to places where avoiding crowds are possible and  where work (teleworking) and travel can be combined. This is undoubtedly a change brought by covid health measures together with climate change, that will contribute to sustainable tourism. Carbon footprint will decrease with less customers, but with longer stays for each of them.

If you want to enjoy a nature destination away from mass tourism, come to La Isla Bonita.

Ecotourism in La Palma. Ecotourism guide #lapalma
What to do in La Palma?

#hiking #volcanoes #stars #reserve #biosphere #malvasia #gofio

La entrada Ecotourism 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.

What is the Milky Way?

The Milky Way is the galaxy in which Earth and the Solar System lies. It contains more than 200 000 million of stars and its diameter is estimated to be about 100 000 light-years (about 420 000 000 000 000 000 Km). From a dark location on Earth, we can only see a tiny part of our galaxy, only our neighbouring stars really. And only if you are on those dark locations you may be lucky enough to see the disk of the galaxy.

About 50 years ago, everybody was able to identify the Milky Way in the sky even if they did not know what it really was. Nowadays, due to light pollution, it is estimated than less of 70 % of Earth population in Europe or United States have ever seen the Milky Way. This is because, the light pollution has stolen the light of the stars. La Palma is still one of those few places on this planet from which the stars and dark sky are visible, even from populated towns. This is thanks to light pollution being controlled by law (Law of the sky, 1989). So, do come to La Palma! You now know that besides the beautiful landscapes and protected areas on the island, visitors can also enjoy the light of the stars. You can even try to reach them with the tips of your fingers!

If interested you may observe the Milky Way and the starry sky at one of the astronomical viewpoints or sites of astronomical interest on La Palma: Miradores astronómicos, or you can book one of our astronomy tours, where you can also see it through telescopes.

La entrada Who has stolen the stars? se publicó primero en AstroLaPalma.

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