Students from La Palma measure the darkness at night over the island

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Students from four Institutes on La Palma (IES Villa de Mazo, de Mazo; IES Eusebio Barreto, de Los Llanos; CEO Santo Domingo de Guzmán, de Santa Cruz de La Palma; and IES Cándido Marante, San Andrés y Sauces) this morning presented the results of an educational activity held in connection with the anniversary of the Starlight Declaration of La Palma. These results show that not only the mountain tops of the Island, where the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is situated, but also other places in the north of La Palma where the measurements were made, are suitable for observing the stars, thanks to their high degree of darkness.

This activity is a part of one of the LPI, (Light Pollution Initiatives) carried out within the European project STARS4ALL (H2020), whose aim is to raise the awarenes in European society of the need for dark skies via a collective platform. In this case the idea was to introduce the young students on La Palma to the field of scientific research via measurements of the astronomical quality of the night sky and the atmospheric transparency of the site. The participants became familiar with the acquisition and treatment of scientific data, and could draw their own conclusions from it, comparing their results with those of independent groups,, helping them to understand nature, and the methodology of real scientific research.

Previous press releases about "Preserving the Skies" conference:

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