Happy 30th birthday to the Observatory at the Roque de Los Muchachos! The official inauguration was in 1985, attended by the royalty from Denmark, Holland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and heads of state of Germany and Ireland. At that time there were only six telescopes on La Palma; now there are 17 of them. To celebrate, the Canarian Astrophysics Institute has a free exhibition in Santa Cruz…
Francisco Sánchez, the founder of the Canarian Astrophysics Institute has resigned at the age of 77. Rafael Rebolo is the new director. Rafael Rebolo is an internationally known astrophysicist who has published over 150 scientific papers, mostly to do with exoplanets and cosmic microwave background. Francisco Sanchez is a hard act to follow. Francisco Sánchez, fundador del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias ha jubilado a la edad de 77. Rafael…
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”…