Just got back from La Palma

[davekermito]

Just got back from Europe's premier astronomy site, La Palma.

As usual with the hope of doing a bit of star gazing whilst away, the famous Trade Winds that bring in the low clouds, giving ridiculously perfect seeing at higher altitude were absent and instead we had high cloud and a lot of airborne sand from the Sahara. Oh well, at least it was hot so it kept the missus happy!

However there was a couple of clear nights and with the absence of sodium lighting, any industry and much of a day/night temperature differential, the clarity of the sky was unbelievable! Plus there were a few strangers in the sky due to it's southerly location (Canopus being the obvious one).

For those who don't know about La Palma, it is the home of the worlds largest optical telescope, as well as numerous other large observatories at it 2500m caldera edge (it's also a fantastic place to go for a relaxing holiday with amazing scenary!).

[Astroman]

Um, isn't Keck the largest optical telescope? Have they finished the GTC? Isn't the scope in the picture the 4.2 meter Herscel?

[davekermito]

It's definitely the GTC and it's definitely larger than Keck.

So there!

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8530807.html

[AlexG]

Ah, La Palma..

Great island, would love to go back there again.

Is there still a seafeed shack on the beach at Las Concajos? Happy times.

AG