Second year of Formentera Astronòmica shows tourists and residents the best of the island's night sky

foto 2022 fa CThe Formentera Office of Tourism is pleased to report that this weekend the island welcomed the second Formentera Astronòmica. Approximately 100 adults, including residents and tourists, joined some of the activities organised during the festival and discovered part of the exciting universe of the stars.

Children's activities were also very well attended. Over the course of the weekend 500 children made crafts and visited the planetarium in Sant Francesc's Plaça de la Constitució, where an astrophysicist expert in astronomy education talked to children about the cosmos.

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Vice President Ferrer expressed her satisfaction with the event, which was enthusiastically received by visitors and local star lovers alike. Formentera's low light pollution makes the island an ideal place to enjoy the night sky, and Ferrer pointed out that Formentera had begun steps to become a "Starlight" destination, a network of the best places in the world for stargazing.

Programme

The daytime part of the event, in Sant Francesc, included talks in a hotel and workshops in Plaça de la Constitució. The nocturnal part was carried out in several natural places with little light pollution. Apart from a melding with gastronomy that included two themed dinners with stargazing, participants travelled into space through telescopes and took part in a night photography workshop. Javier Aranda, an acclaimed, Michelin-starred chef, cooked with local chef Juan Exojo at a dinner with journalists and speakers.

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Speakers specialised in astronomy included Carlos Briones, researcher at CSIC; Manuel González, astronomer; Eva Ramírez, INECO expert; Asier Arranz, AI and astronomy specialist at Nvidia; Dalila Dawid, night photography expert; Miguel Ángel Molina, general manager of space at GMV; Rosa Rodríguez of SOCIB.

The Formentera Astronomical Association (AAF) once again collaborated in the event. Two night observations of the cosmos were carried out with the help of new AAF telescopes.

9 May 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera