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Stargazing Paradise


fredman

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Hi everyone

I recently started to follow a portuguese astrophotographer on Facebook and yesterday i went to a AP exhibition made by him.

He then talked about a region in Portugal named Dark Sky Alqueva, which is probably the darkest area in Portugal that it is aimed for stargazing.

It as accommodations and they provide sessions for stargazing with their own scopes.

I think that this is just amazing and a little paradise for us astronomers.

I will be looking forward to go there very, very soon.

I hope you guys enjoy the news.

You can check all the info here:

www.darkskyalqueva.com/eng

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Yeah, we are pretty well lit, morover with the new led street lamps the night turns into day again. Bad for stargazing [emoji45]

But there is still places that escape the brightness of the big cities, hence the place i mentioned, but there are others also

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That's interesting as I frequently fly over Portugal on trips to Tenerife and have always been surprised at the apparent high level of ground based illumination. 

So do I and its probably because flying from the UK we end up over Lisbon then Porto which is the worst effected part of Portugal for light pollution. Further south inland from the Algarve as Paul suggest are some very dark spots especially if you are shielded in a valley, when I travelled around Portugal some places were amazingly dark. If you can get away from the cities and into the mountains taking your life in your hands with the dodgy roads some great seeing can be had.

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A great place for stargazing is Sines, half way to Algarve. It doesn't has nothing great to see during the say except going to the beach, but at night, wow.

I went there with my wife this last summer, and at night when going back to the hotel i saw the most dark sky ever, lots and lots of stars. I was baffled with that vision

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A great place for stargazing is Sines, half way to Algarve. It doesn't has nothing great to see during the say except going to the beach, but at night, wow.

I went there with my wife this last summer, and at night when going back to the hotel i saw the most dark sky ever, lots and lots of stars. I was baffled with that vision

Have not been to Sines, but isnt it a lovely place to visit during the day as i think its full of castles etc?.

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Have not been to Sines, but isnt it a lovely place to visit during the day as i think its full of castles etc?.

That's Silves, close to Portimão.

The only thing you'll see in Sines are pipelines and a Oil Refinery, but it will give a warm beach water thought [emoji1]

Silves is more pleasureble to the eye

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello.

I´m from Vila Real, at this point I can only say: check better because Portugal has very nice light saved areas in the interior north. Small towns, several hills above 1000m high, away from sea humidity. Really nice dark skies, I can assure you.

I´m finishing my 2 year (!!!) search for a future proof investment in astro gear. I intend to organize sections for small groups and some astrofests, and I also intend to invite you all as soon as possible to visit this region: Trás-os-Monte e Alto Douro. :)

Alqueva area must be very nice also because very little light sources emit there in the night, but not very high from sea level.

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Hello.

I´m from Vila Real, at this point I can only say: check better because Portugal has very nice light saved areas in the interior north. Small towns, several hills above 1000m high, away from sea humidity. Really nice dark skies, I can assure you.

I´m finishing my 2 year (!!!) search for a future proof investment in astro gear. I intend to organize sections for small groups and some astrofests, and I also intend to invite you all as soon as possible to visit this region: Trás-os-Monte e Alto Douro. :)

Alqueva area must be very nice also because very little light sources emit there in the night, but not very high from sea level.

Nice to see fellow countryman on this forum.

i am from Lisbon.

You have to tell more about those astrofests.

About the Dark Sky Alqueva place, i'll be there in the first weekend of May, and will attend a observation session with a 14" scope [emoji3][emoji3] will pack my DSLR for some night sky shots.

I'll post here the photos [emoji4]

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