As far as I can tell, Comet ISON is neither alive not dead, but in some stage in-between. Something came out from behind the sun. Watch this space. Por lo que puedo decir, el cometa ISON no está ni vivo ni muerto, pero en algún en el medio. Algo salió de detrás del sol. Mire este espacio. Soweit ich das beurteilen kann, ist weder lebendig Comet ISON nicht tot, sondern…
This is the Rabbit’s Foot Fern Davallia canariensis, which likes to grow in the warmer and damper parts of the island. It particularly likes dry stone walls, barrel-tile roofs and cliffs. As you can see, the name comes from the root, which is very pretty. I believe that the Awara used to make gofio from it, and so did more modern Palmerans when there was nothing better available, although I’m…
< It looks like comet ISON has broken up. I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised. The comet’s closest approach was just 1,165,000 km (724,000 mi) from the surface of the sun. This is not a safe place for a snowball. The image above shows just how close it got. The black disc in the centre of the picture is called a cronograph. It covers up the sun so that...
Tourists sometimes go nuts trying to find the village of Breña Baja, or Fuencaliente. There’s a really simple reason why they can’t find them. They don’t exist. Breña Baja and Fuencaliente are municipalities, and their town halls are in the villages of San Jose and Los Canarios, respectively. It like driving all over the south east of England, looking for the town of Sussex. The map shows the 14 municipalities…
The Big Dipper over Santa Cruz de La Palma I got up early to try to see comet ISON (which is low in the east just before dawn). There was only one cloud in the starry sky. Yup. Right in front of the comet. Since I was up anyway, I decided that I may as well practise a bit of astro-photography. I need the practice after all. So here is…
This weekend, Puntagorda market has a special attraction. Astrotour will be offering free astronomical observations of the sun, together with workshops and games for children. And on Sunday morning, there’s a workshop on solar energy. There will also be nighttime astronomical observations on the Avenida Almendos near Cafe Itaca. Puntagorda is a village and municipality in the north west of the island. Every Saturday and Sunday, they have a farmers’…