Last night La Palma officially got its certificates as the world’s first Starlight reserve and the world’s first Starlight Tourist Destination from the Starlight Foundation.
Briefly, a Starlight Reserve is a place with excellent night skies, and a commitment to keep them that way. And a Starlight Destination is a place with excellent night skies and quality activities on offer for tourists. This is rather like “appellation d’origine contrôlée” on a bottle of French wine: it’s your guarantee that the tour guide knows what she’s talking about and that the silver, star-theme jewellery won’t turn out to be silver plate that tarnishes in three months.
The Cabildo’s worked hard for this, creating astronomical viewpoints and hiking trails, certifying rural houses which offer stargazing, and encouraging businesses to to add astronomical touches. So this was quite a big deal. The president of Cabildo and the head of the tourist board were there to receive the certificates from the head of the Astrophysics Institute, and the President of the Canaries made a speech. We also got (very good) performances of rhythmic gymnastics, music and a choir, followed by a glass of wine and nibbles. And I’m happy to say that several distinguished astronomers said nice things about my book.
Fascinating info, Sheila! We recently got a a major telescope for one of our observatories here in Catalonia …. I doubt whether the sky is as clear as in La Palma, though!
I don’t know what the night sky in Catalonia’s like, but La Palma’s is amazing. It’s not just that it’s very dark and cloud-free, it’s that the stars don’t twinkle much. Twinkling stars are pretty, but it’s much harder to take scientific measurements. See
Why La Palma? for an explanation.