Gazing at the stars under the sky of Isla Bonita

Photo by @islascanariasoficial

Location

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma

Best time to visit the Observatory

Thanks to the skies of La Palma, this observatory offers ideal conditions for astronomical research and is therefore attracting some of the giant telescopes of the future, as well as the new generation of Cherenkov telescopes designed to study the universe in very high-energy gamma rays. Visits to this center are during the day.

Plan

The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is one of the world's most prestigious institutions for the study and observation of the night sky. It currently houses the world's largest optical and infrared telescope, as well as some twenty other telescopes and astronomical instruments for various types of research: nighttime observations, robotic observations, solar physics, and high-energy astrophysics. These telescopes have enabled significant advances in the study of the Universe, such as the detection of the deepest galaxy within the most distant galaxy and the confirmation of the existence of black holes and the accelerated expansion of the Universe.

Complete the Route

Take advantage of your visit to explore the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Here, nature holds a precious treasure of geological and biological diversity. The spectacular nature of this crater, eight kilometers in diameter and up to one and a half kilometers deep, covered in dense Canary pine forests and crisscrossed by deep ravines, cannot be truly appreciated in photographs; it must be seen in person.

Interesting facts

The Observatory is part of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics and was inaugurated by the Kings of Spain in 1985, the date on which Lanzarote artist César Manrique, as a tribute to the Astrophysics Observatory of El Roque de los Muchachos, created the Monument to Infinity which, bordered by broom and gorse and with a unique cosmic geometry, looks to the beyond.