The XXX Summer University of Maspalomas has organized the 'Looking at the stars' workshop, which will give the possibility of making astronomical observations through telescopes, as well as making known the history and importance of the Canary Islands Space Center located in Montaña Blanca.
In this introductory workshop to Astronomy, attendees will be able to observe, from different viewpoints in Maspalomas, different stellar objects such as the Hercules star cluster, the ring nebula, the Bode galaxies, or the cigar and the double star of Albireo. In addition, they will be able to do a photo session with long exposure shots.
Registration for this workshop (€15), which will be held on Monday, July 18th at the Maspalomas Cultural Center, can be done through the website: https://www.universidadveranomaspalomas.org/materias/96/ . The workshop includes the use of telescopes and free transportation to the observation points (round trip to Maspalomas).
The day will begin at 17:30 p.m., with the intervention of Rafael Sahagún, director of the Canary Islands Space Center, who will talk about the history of the center that dates back to the early 60s, of the last XNUMXth century, when the Government of Spain authorized NASA to install a space vehicle tracking station, which continues to operate today, with the development and support of important projects.
Next, attendees will travel, by bus, to the Mulato Dam or, in case of low visibility, to the public access area near the Las Niñas Dam or Roque Nublo. To carry out the observations, two powerful 16-inch telescopes can be used, which will allow high-quality observation.
At the observation point, around 20 p.m., the assembly of telescopes will be taught and an introduction to Astronomy will be given, with explanations about the operation of the telescopes and the stellar objects that will be observed. In this session, participants will be able to do a photo session, with long exposure shots. They will receive the photographs at no additional cost.