Astronomic tour to Teide including a visit to the Observatory

Description Enjoy this 2-in-1 Astronomic Tour of Teide for astronomy lovers in Tenerife The Astronomic Tour of Teide is our 2-in-1 Teide astronomical tour, which combines a daytime visit of Tenerife Observatory (a night tour of Teide Observatory is not available) with a stargazing experience . Transport is also offered for the Teide Astronomical Tour from various points on the island of Tenerife. Please note that the facilities of this scientific centre aren’t open for a Teide Observatory night tour. On this astronomic tour in Tenerife, you will visit Izaña Observatory during the daytime.

During this Astronomic Tour to Teide, which lasts approximately 8 hours, our Starlight guide accompanies you at all times, so that you can enjoy Mt Teide by night . But you’ll also be accompanied by nocturnal creatures. As the sun goes down, a change comes over the National Park. Creatures that are active during the daytime hide away, and the nocturnal creatures emerge from their lairs.

Many invertebrates start scampering among the plants, and the harmless bats abandon the volcanic tunnels, cracks and caves where they spend the hours of daylight asleep, to make themselves lords and masters of the scrubland as they hunt for moths. The National Park is home to five of the seven species of bat that inhabit the Canary archipelago. Especially noteworthy are the Canary long-eared bat and the free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis), the largest bat to be found on these islands. Your Astronomic Tour of Teide includes a visit of the Teide Observatory—in the afternoon and with a guide, because Teide Observatory isn’t open to visitors at night.

Once the sun has gone down, you will enjoy a stargazing experience using long-range telescopes at 2,356 m at the Teide Cable Car base station, under the clear and pure sky of the Teide National Park, the most visited national park in Europe. This astronomic tour in Tenerife also includes a stop for a meal. You choose whether you prefer to bring your own food or buy our optional picnic-style dinner along with your ‘Astronomic Tour including a visit of Teide Observatory’. An afternoon Teide Observatory tour Tenerife is so much more than just sun and beaches.

The island is also famous for science, its volcanoes and the stars over Mt Teide. The Canary Islands are one of the three best spots on Earth to observe the sky. The other two spots, just for curiosity’s sake, are Chile and Hawaii. This is why we are fortunate to have the most important solar observatory here in Tenerife.

Some people feel they would prefer to discover Teide Observatory on a night tour but there is a very good reason it is only open to visitors during the daytime; during the night, a team of scientists works at Teide Observatory to perform research work into the night skies. Did you know that the Teide Observatory began to operate in 1964 and focuses on solar observations and robotic astronomy? Moreover, it is home to a wide range of solar and nocturnal telescopes, owned by different European countries. Thanks to the guides on your Astronomic Tour of Teide, you can feel like a scientist for a day as during the afternoon Tenerife Observatory visit: You’re introduced to astronomy in Tenerife and the importance of the sky in the Canary Islands , the Teide Observatory telescopes and the different projects of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, also known as IAC . You participate in the most interesting astrophysics workshop, held in the Teide Observatory visitors centre, shared with you by our Starlight guides, where we explain what astrophysics is and how the astrophysicists in this centre conduct their research.

You enjoy the sun like never before whilst observing sunspots and solar flares through two solar telescopes that we make available to you. You visit the inside of a nocturnal telescope and don’t leave until you know how it functions and learn about its exciting history. Mount Teide Astronomical Tour to enjoy astronomy in Tenerife After the Tenerife Observatory tour, what’s better than to enjoy the colours of the National Park when it’s getting dark, before beginning the astronomical observation, included in your stargazing night on Mount Teide. It doesn’t matter if you have already been to Teide during the day because the moment the National Park is bathed in the lovely colours of the twilight, you will feel as though you have never been in this beautiful location.

Before you arrive at the Teide Observatory, you will have toured a good part of the National Park. During your tour, you will see inside the caldera of Las Cañadas , a massive volcanic formation whose origins date back 180,000 years—to when the volcano that then stood at the highest point on Tenerife collapsed and its northern slope fell away. A good proportion of the millions of tons of rock that made up the volcano slid away downwards, into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. What remained standing of the volcanic edifice is the cirque of Las Cañadas, an oval, natural amphitheatre, which forms a wall stretching from east to west in the south of the Park.

Volcanic activity soon resumed in the great tunnel that the slippage left in its wake, and successive eruptions filled Las Cañadas with lava flows. Evidence of this activity can be seen in the occasional (now dormant) volcanic cones scattered around. One of the volcanoes that emerged following the collapse was Mount Teide, which rises up in the centre of the caldera, reaching a height of 3,718 m. To date, the last eruption to have occurred in this spectacular volcanic landscape took place in 1798 at the base of Pico Viejo.

A stargazing experience on Mount Teide to unravel the mysteries of the starry sky It is often said that Tenerife is a fortunate island for its climate. But it is fortunate for more reasons than this. For example: from Mount Teide, it is possible to observe 83 of the 88 officially recognised constellations. You may ask, how is it possible to see so many constellations from Mount Teide? Because there is nothing like the peaks of this friendly island to observe the stars and enjoy astronomy in Tenerife .

It is also because the Teide is the best place in Tenerife to conduct an astronomical observation, away from the light pollution produced by the urban areas of the island. With the Astronomic Tour of Teide guides, you discover the secrets of the heavens from Teide National Park. You learn how to orient yourself using celestial objects and enjoy discerning the elements of Greek mythology, which are hidden behind the constellations, and the relationship between them. Get closer to the stars with the professional telescopes on your Teide Astronomical Tour The astronomical observation included in the Astronomic Tour of Teide is held in the car park next to the Teide Cable Car base station, an outstanding spot where you can let your love of astronomy loose in Tenerife.

You discover planets, galaxies and clusters like you never would have imagined, thanks to our professional, last generation long range telescopes, which you have at your disposal to go through the most interesting celestial objects of every night, visible from Mount Teide. In addition, during your Astronomic Tour of Teide the guides will provide you with interesting information about the objects you observe through the telescope. Our professional astronomic instrumentation, together with the transparency and quality of the skies over the peaks of Tenerife, will without a doubt contribute to a unique experience which you will live during this astronomical tourism activity in Tenerife. Full moon astronomical observation You will already know that the moon passes through different phases during its 29-day cycle, that is to say, lunation.

Therefore, at least once a month, the potent glow of our planet’s satellite will dim the faint light of the distant celestial bodies. If you book our Astronomic Tour of Teide and enjoy it on the night of the full moon, you will take advantage of its radiant appearance and be delighted with its splendour: craters, mountain ranges and other lunar wonders. To get you started: Did you know that you can find the Montes Teneriffe, Mons Pico and the crater Piazzi Smyth on the moon? If what we have just mentioned has surprised you and we have left you curious as to why they have these names, write this question down so that you can ask our guides on the night of your Astronomic Tour with a Teide Observatory visit (not including a Tenerife Observatory night tour, i.e. a night-time visit to Izaña Observatory) and with a professional observation of the Universe from the Teide cable car facilities. Book your Teide Astronomical Tour today and enjoy astronomy in Tenerife during your holiday on the island!