Observatories on Tenerife

[StephenRh]

Lucky enough to be on cruise to the Canary Islands this coming Christmas with the opportunity to visit Mount Teide and the Teide observatories. Any body else done this?

[Rapallokid]

I wish ! Hope you have a great time cruising and up the mountain.....

[900SL]

I've driven up to the Tiede Observatory although I didn't see if I could get access. Also climbed up to 2,900 m on Mt Tiede before I started with a bit of altitude sickness. The volcanic caldera around Mt Tiede is well worth a visit

Edited May 29, 2022 by 900SL

[thomasv]

There are organized guided tours that you can book in advance, which also let you have a peek inside GTC. I do recommend it, let me know if you can't find the link. 

The highest point is on a different peak, 4000+ meters, you can take the cable car to near the peak, but if you then want to walk to the peak you will need to book a permit for the day, as there is a limit on the visitors per day. And don't forget that despite it being Tenerife, at 4000m in December it will get pretty cold, so even if you book in advance, some days the access to the peak or even taking the cable car may not be possible. 

[icpn]

i think you are getting confused with the La Palma observatories on a different island. The Teide observatories are on Tenereife and are msotly small telescopes devoted to the Sun..

[thomasv]

On 30/05/2022 at 08:29, icpn said:

i think you are getting confused with the La Palma observatories on a different island. The Teide observatories are on Tenereife and are mostly small telescopes devoted to the Sun..

Absolutely, sorry, I did get confused. I did do the tour around Tenerife observatories too, but you are right, probably less interesting than on La Palma. Still great skies, of course, we drove up one night, and enjoyed the sight, that is until a group turned up with their laser pointers. 😬

[fifeskies]

When I first visited Tenerife there was almost no-one visiting the crater at night so the dark skies were undisturbed.

These days there seems to be a regular set of tourist minibus groups that visit the crater every clear night with their powerful laser pointers cutting up the sky.

Its not just confined to one part of the caldera as the minibus convoy seems to split off to all the best spots with ample parking.

 

However if you wait it out they are pretty much all gone by midnight.