Stargazing with a 20 Inch Telescope and Teide Sunset

Overview

Two separate experiences in one evening, at two different sites. First the sunset: a viewpoint high above the cloud layer, a glass of sparkling wine, and the volcanic landscape turning from ochre to deep red as the light goes. Then the sky takes over. At a second observing site, accredited professional astronomers work a 500 mm Sky-Watcher Stargate GoTo telescope — a 20-inch mirror that gathers four times the light of a 250 mm instrument. A digital eyepiece adds what the eye cannot do: nebulae and galaxies appear in colour on screen, while you see the real object through the eyepiece itself.