The Tourist divisinn of the Cabildo Insular of La Palma, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Starlight Foundation have announced a competition of drawings for pupils in primary schools on La Palma, which must be related to themes of astronomy, the sky and the stars over the island.
This is the first of a set of activities which are being arranged in La Palma to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Starlight Declaration, in defense of the quality of the night sky and the right to observer the stars which was enacted in the Island on April 20th 2007.
The Councilor for Tourism of the Cabildo of La Palma, Alicia Vanoostende, explained that with this competition the idea is to introduce the principles of the Starlight Declaration to the younger generation and to transmit to the general public how valuable it is to enjoy a contamination free sky.
All the pupils of all the primary schools on the island can participate in this competition in which they should present a drawing related to astronomy, the dark sky, and its protection. The drawings should be submitted to the Island Tourist Service of the Cabildo during the first two weeks of April, and form the 18th to the 21st of that month an exhibition will be held in the Casa Principal de Salazar.
The first prize will be an opportunity to observe the stars through a telescope provided by Ad Astra La Palma (the organization in charge of the competition), for the winner and two members of the family, as well as a luminescent planisphere. The second prize will be a starry tee-shirt for the winner and the parents, plus a planisphere, and the third prize will be one tee-shirt and a planisphere.
There will also be prizes for the classes of the schools providing the winners of the above three prizes, which will be a set of elements of astronomical observation.
Previous press releases:
