Two days ago the top of La Palma was covered in fog and it was cold – just 6 ºC. Today we were back to a cloudless blue sky, brilliant sunshine and about 18 ºC. Much nicer! Today’s visitors were an international bunch: teenagers from Los Sauces on La Palma, The Czech Republic and Greece. I gave the tour in English and made it as simple as possible. But no…
The MAGIC telescope has the biggest telescope mirrors in the world. I’ve always wanted to get up the green tower to prime focus, where the light is focused onto the camera. I finally got up there in July. Even better, my friend Carolin Liefke (from the Max Plank Institute) had a camera with a fisheye lens and the skill to make good use of it. You can read more…
The whole hillside at the Roque de Los Muchachos is in bloom. But where heather moors go purple, The peaks of La Palma go yellow with sticky broom (Adenocarpus viscosus, or codeso in Spanish) and French broom (Genista benehoavensis or retamón palmero in Spanish)
This is wht the MAGIC webcam is showing tonight. Very Christmassy, don’t you think?
For years, the IAC (Canarian Astrophysics Institute) has paid the cost of visits to the observatory. Now they need to be even more careful with their money, and visitors will have to pay 9€ each (6.75€ for residents of La Palma), which should cover the cost of the guide and administrative overhead. The visits are still daytime only, and last 45-90 minutes. This includes a short talk on why the…
And the head of the astrophysics institute talks about the Canary Island observatories More information at http://shineagain.com Y el director del Instituto de Astrofisica habla del cielo canario Más información en http://www.vuelveabrillar.com/ Und der Chef der Astrophysik Institut spricht über die Kanareninsel Observatorien Weitere Informationen unter http://www.strahlmalwieder.com/