Why Tenerife is an ideal place to observe stars?
The astronomical quality of an Observatory is mainly defined by the transparency of its skies and by the number of useful observation hours per year. This is intimately related to the climatology of the place and its geographical characteristics.
In the case of Tenerife, its exceptional astronomical quality is due to the following factors:
- It is close to the equator and away from tropical storms. In addition, this situation allows the observation of the entire Northern Celestial Hemisphere and part of the South.
- The Observatories are located 2,400 m above sea level, above the thermal inversion of the trade winds. This guarantees that the facilities are above the so-called “sea of clouds” where there is a clean atmosphere without turbulence, stabilized by the ocean.
