The Italian National Telescope (the Galileo) is getting a new scientific instrument to look for planets outside our solar system. I remember a childhood astronomy book which said that we would never know whether there are planets outside our own solar system, because they are much, much too small and much much much too far away. That’s all changed in the last few years. There’s a class of instruments called…
This is the cover design for my ebook, “A Breathtaking Window on the Universe: a guide to the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory”, which should be on sale by late summer or autumn of 2012. It explains why the observatory is on La Palma and how a telescope and its instruments work, and gives details of each telescope, plus many anecdotes and over 60 photos. I’ll be posting full details…
The astronomical viewpoint in Tijarafe is now open. It’s easy to find, right beside the main road (the LP1) at km 83, which is about 2 km north of the main village of Tijarafe, right beside a restaurant with a good reputation. It’s not the darkest viewpoint, but it must have a terrific view of the sunset. Each astronomical viewpoint on La Palma has information panels, and those at…
Gaspar visiting Santa Cruz de la Palma Although Father Christmas does visit Spanish children, he’s a new arrival. Traditionally the presents arrive on the morning of January 6th, when the three kings visit baby Jesus. This is why the sales haven’t really started yet – Christmas isn’t over here. And on the evening of the 5th, they ride in procession through most of the major towns and villages in Spain….
If you were shopping in Santa Cruz last week, you might have seen a road train full of infants, grinning and waving, and shouting out “¡Feliz Navidad!” The road train belongs to the local bus company. It’s available for hire all year, but it seems to be pretty solidly booked in the last week of school term. The school where I used to work had a regular routine. We put…
I got home from El Hierro on Sunday afternoon, and I had a tour guiding job on Monday morning. I was a little nervous, because it was a new route for me. What I should have worried about was that most of my passengers weren’t native English speakers (I use very colloquial English on tour buses) and that, everywhere we went, my group would tend to get mixed up with…