Corpus Christi tomorrow

June 3, 2015

  Tomorrow is Corpus Christi in Mazo. That is, they’ll be making the archways and carpets tonight, and most people will go and see them tomorrow, but they’ll stay up until Sunday night. Also on Sunday they’ll hold a special mass in the church followed by a procession around the archways. The archways will stay up until Sunday. If you miss this, you can see some examples from previous years…

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Finally put to bed.

Book tucked up in bed
June 1, 2015

At long,long last, the Spanish second edition of my guide book to the observatory, “Una espectacular ventana al universo” has gone to the printers. I’ve been trying to put it to bed for weeks, but it kept wandering downstairs asking for another drink of water. Here it is, finally tucked in with its favourite bookmark. In other news, Padwon needs a new home. I’m told he’s very well behaved and…

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A new instrument for GTC

May 31, 2015

  Gran Telescopio Canarias has a (sort of) new spectrograph. The HORS spectrograph is very high resolution, and of course GTC’s huge mirror collects a lot of light from even the most distant object. Put them together and you can measure the abundances of the chemical elements in stars, determine the masses of black holes in binary systems, and the composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets. I say it’s a…

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Canary Day

Saturday is Canary Day. It’s a big thing here, and the celebrations have started already. On Friday, most schools will have a party for the second half of the morning. They’ll serve traditional food (probably lots of gofio) and play traditional folk music. Some will have Canarian sports, like the Shepherd’s Leap. And the real celebration is still to come. Most shops will be shut, except in tourist areas.

May 29, 2015
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San Antonio Volcano

May 26, 2015

  The most recent eruption in the Canary Islands was Teneguía, in 1971 (see Thursday, 21 February 2008 Which Planet Are You On?). It’s a nice place to visit, but you have to be fairly fit. St. Antony’s Volcano (Volcan San Antonio) is nice in a completely different way. For one thing, it looks like a volcano should look, and you can walk halfway around the spectacular circular crater. You…

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Wild Peas

Wild peas, Pisum sativum in Breña Alta
May 22, 2015

  These are wild peas, Pisum sativum. They grow all over the island, and very pretty they are too. The flowers are edible, but I don’t know if the peas themselves are. Certainly sweet peas are poisonous.

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