Welcome to Casa Astra La Palma

Casa Astro La Palma, the inevitable astronomy spot for astronomers and all curious people about the stars

Astrotourism on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands) : How to associate the passion for astronomy and the tourism discovery in a preserved natural setting?

Casa Astro La Palma façade
Casa Astro La Palma

It is on the heights of Las Tricias – northwest coast of the island and on the road joining to The observatory Roque de Los Muchachos  – at 950m altitude (to observe the sky it’s better to be closer!) that Sylvie and Fabrice welcome you in their vast property and offer a charming apartment with individual access.

Coucher de soleil

A bed and breakfast in the spirit, to come and recharge your batteries away from the hustle and bustle of the world urban centers.

A friendly and warm welcome is accompanied in your discovery of La Palma.

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You will enjoy:

Its very quiet and rural location, amidst canary pines, almond trees, prickly pears, vines …

<mark> Its panoramic view of the ocean </ mark>, the Matos mountain and the hills of Puntagorda. At the end of the day, enjoy the simple moment of the intense colors of a sunset over the ocean … and with a bit of luck look out for the green ray!

Its gardens flourished in all seasons and with several endemic species (Palm trees, cacti, agave, euphorbia and succulents …) along terraces arranged … or an invitation to the bucolic promenade.

Its night sky ideal for astronomical study of a striking clarity out of dust storm. The establishment, 1500 m higher, of the observatory of Roque de Los Muchachos constellé with a last telescope of more than 10m in diameter (Gran Tcan …) is not the result of chance!

And for the “uninitiated” the discovery of the southern constellations on a southern horizon well clear and its Milky Way as it is unfortunately no longer possible to see in Europe. Look up at the sky … and admire … !!!

2 packages  availables to best suited to the wishes of our guests

•  Holiday rental  only
• Holiday rental with astronomical observation instruments

Book your accommodation and astronomical instruments

Renovated duplex apartment for 2 pers. with ground floor access to the East terrace and garden. For further information : location, descriptive, prices, availability … read more…

Chambre
Cuisine
Casa Astro La Palma
Description of the observing instruments
Optical and mechanical characteristics  : telescope Dosbson 300mm, an equatorial mount AZEQ6GT  (instrument rental only with accomodation) read more…
Dobson T300 Orion SkyQuest XT12i intelliscope
Dobson T300 Orion SkyQuest XT12i intelliscope
Composants optiques Dobson 300Composants optiques Dobson 300
monture AZ-EQ6GTmonture AZ-EQ6GT
détail échelle en latitudedétail échelle en latitude
Astro News

Casa Astro La Palma,  news…

Guestbook Astro pictures
Sturmvogel - Thomas Frisch
Sturmvogel – Thomas Frisch

Latest observation reports

Humason 1-1deep-sky drawing
Hu 1-1 (Cas)
Humason 1-1 (Cas)
Abell 7 planetary nebula in Lepus constellation read more
Abell 7 planetary nebula in Lepus
Abell 7 nébuleuse planétaire dans le Lièvre

A night at the 10.4m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS GTC (La Palma, Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos)

copyright: ©2015 Gianluca Lombardi/GTC, www.glphoto.itSoundtrack: A Lovely Place To Be”, So Flows the Current (2001),Patrick O’Hearn

“This is a timelapse showing a night at the 10.4m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (or Grantecan, or GTC) and the wonders of the Northern Sky from the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in the Island of La Palma (Canary Islands).
Between April 21 and April 24 2015 the Lyrids meteor shower was amazingly visible from the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. I have made a timelapse of the event as seen from different locations

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around the GTC, collecting 46 hours of continuous shooting (almost 4200 pictures in total) leaving my Canon 5D Mark III (equipped with a Samyang 14mm f2.8) outside on the telescopes platform and inside the telescope enclosure, acquiring the frames while I was the GTC Night Astronomer.
NOTES:
– At 1:50 in the upper-right part of the scene, a huge meteor explodes leaving an expanding red smoke trail
– At 3:12 you can see the ISS transiting above the GTC from the right toward the left low in the sky (North-South)

– During the nighttime scenes you can enjoy green and red beautiful airglow in the sky.”