Tenerife

[Avo]

Hi folks

Any one been to Tenerife with astro in mind ?

We're going there in October and staying in the NW of the island, primarily for walking but will take some astro gear.

Been to La Palma a few times now and have hired scopes there and had great viewing, lots of messier bagging.

Hope light polution on Tenerife is not too bad. 

Is it possible to hire scopes there ?

[Uplooker]

Hi Avo,

I am unable to answer you question. Peter Drew is the best man to advise as he goes out to Tenerife quite regularly, he should be along sometime soon to advise

[Floater]

Not much help, Avo, but when we stayed in the north of the island it tended to be cloudy a lot more than the south ...

Best of luck with your trip.

[prusling]

Hi Avo,

Went there with the family in June last year and fortunately (accidentally!) chose a week with a new moon.

Kit was limited to a dslr, but we had a truly memorable evening up on Mt Teide in the company of www.teidebynight.com who lent us tripods. Very knowledgeable and friendly people who I'm sure would help with advice if you contacted them.

I had never experienced such a dark sky and it was stunning with very little LP. Time was limited but we got some great shots of the Milky Way.

I can't wait to go back.

Have a great time!

[belfieldi]

Hi Avo,

I was in Tenerife in February this year and can recommend Mt Teide. It's dark and usually above the clouds, not sure I've ever seen so many stars. One word of warning though, it might be in Tenerife, but by god, was it cold up there!!

Ian

[Nigeyboy]

Just booked a holiday to Tenerife for August 2016, and have been looking into this very subject! Seen that Mt Teide has a good rep for dark skies. Its the highest point in the Spanish territories, so you are above most of the weather and LP. Can't wait to get up there!

[Martin Meredith]

The Parador near Mt Teide has telescopes for guests/visitors to use and also offers observing sessions. Worth checking with them if they have anything on during your stay or whether you can use their scopes anyway.

Martin

[Peter Drew]

Despite having an "astro apartment" in Tenerife and being a frequent visitor, I don't think I'm "the best man to advise"   I'm located at sea level and go mostly for solar, lunar and planetary observing. I've yet to go fully to the top of Teide, we stayed on one occasion in a Finca at 5000ft with a view to buying, the night sky was stunning but the place was too remote and very cold at night, you don't have to go to Tenerife to be cold!. What I would say, is that the transparency is usually excellent, I can see the Milky Way from an urban situation and the objects of interest are 28 degrees higher than NW UK. If nothing else, Tenerife is a beautiful island to visit. 

[Avo]

Thanks fellas

After disapointing UK skies, I'm sure it will be grand.......... 

[greglloyd]

Slightly off topic, but last year I did a short one evening tour with AstroGC on Gran Canaria. They have a 16" scope and we travelled up into the mountains of south Gran Canaria. I had some really memorable views of Omega Centauri and M51 Whirlpool galaxy.

Not sure if there is a similar service on Tenerife? Either way, if anyone is going to Gran Canaria then I highly recommend checking out the AstroGC tour.

[robbie c]

Hi Avo I'm in Tenerife at the moment and have booked a night in the hotel Parador on Sunday, although there was a full moon 3 nights ago the skies were still full of stars early on and the moon was a stunning site rising above the sea a brilliant deep red will let you know what it's like when I get back.

Regards Robbie

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[robbie c]

Hi Avo back from Tenerife and as promised I'd let you know how it went,

I won't bore you with the drive up the mountain although the motorbike police escort through the back roads of one small town was great fun as most of the roads were closed due to a 

Carnival going on.

When we got to the hotel the views are stunning with Mount Teide about 2/3miles away.

Watched the sun setting which was very nice to see as it slipped below the mountains and the stars started to come out (A word of warning the temperature starts to drop very quickly after that)

So went back to our room put some jeans and a top on and sat out on the balcony.

Then the coaches with the tourists arrived for their viewing of the night sky, they were there for about 1hr but once they have gone the hotel turn off all the outside lights and that's then I was

Treated to an amazing very dark sky, I've never seen so many stars, back home it can be hard to see the Milky Way well up there its hard to miss it as it goes right across the night sky.

The hotel has a 8inch Dob that they let me take out and use for as long as I wanted and its well worth it with skies that dark.

While I was out there I had some of the other guests come out and asked if they could have a look so I showed them Venus and when I showed them Jupiter with three moons on show there was 

some very loud 'WOWS' followed by that's amazing I've never seen any thing like that before! so some happy guests went to bed with big smiles om their faces.

I stayed out until about 3;00 before turning in for the night very happy and very tired.

So if you get the chance to stay up there for the night do it you won't be disappointed as the tours only stay there for about 1hr, I'm hoping to go next year and spend at least 2/3 days up there.

Robbie   

[Avo]

Hi Robbie

Glad you had a good time.

May have to give that a go.