Last week I attended a course organised by the Starlight Foundation (https://www.fundacionstarlight.org) to get my stargazing guide certification.
The Foundation is a non-profit organization created in 2009 by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands to “promote the defense of the sky, the dissemination of astronomy and sustainable, high-quality tourism in those places where the night sky is cared”. It is an integrated action of the UNESCO and is supported by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Its objectives are to:
– Protect the night sky from light pollution
– Spread culture of astronomy through outreach
– Promote astro-tourism to enable people to appreciate the night sky in dark-sky locations
– Adopt intelligent lighting an innovation to save energy
Among the many activities the foundation is involved in, there is the formation of guides specialized in astro-tourism, which is a very specialized niche but essential for this growing segment of high-quality tourism.
Our co-founder Stephen was among the first to recognize the need to be qualified and credible to the eyes of our guests, so he was also one of the first in getting certified, having completed the course in 2018.
Although it is not mandatory to be certified as stargazing guides to operate in the Teide National Park at the moment, we at Stargazing Tenerife recognize that it is paramount to have a solid scientific background and to have some sort of ‘seal of approval’ to provide the highest quality during our tours. Of course our stargazing tours are not advanced astronomy courses, they are aimed at sharing the beauty of the night sky with our guests presenting interesting bits of information and entertaining stories, but we still want to ensure that what we give out on any given night is rooted in scientifically-sound facts, not questionable opinions that someone without real knowledge or merit might share on a website or social media to get some attention or spread misinformation. These days we are bombarded by an overwhelming amount of contrasting information on any subject, and it is sometimes hard to discern where the truth lies, so this is where it is fundamental to choose the right sources.
The course took place in beautiful Cuenca, in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain, so I took a plane from Tenerife to Madrid and drove close to two hours to the town. I arrived late Sunday night so I only had time to find the hotel and get some sleep as the next five days would be intensive to say the least. The next morning I met with my fellow guides-to-be and we were greeted by Dr. Antonia Varela, the director of the foundation and a very accomplished scientist to begin with. The first thing that impressed me about her is that she learned the names of all the 40+ participants during our brief presentations and never forgot them…it takes a different kind of brain to do such things!
The classes started at 9am and ended at 11pm for five days, covering everything from the history of astronomy to the latest studies on black holes and dark matter, from astrophotography classes to sessions on how to use telescopes, from guidelines in astro-tourism practices to recommendations regarding the business aspect. All these classes were given by acclaimed professionals in their field, which made things all the more interesting.
On Saturday we were given the certificates and the badges, and we will have to renew the certification every two years to make sure we keep up to date with the recent developments in the field
My brain is still processing all that information and hopefully it will retain some of it, but I am grateful I had the opportunity to join this selected group of people whose aim is to share the beauty of the night sky and raise awareness about the risks of losing them due to light pollution and the deployment of satellite mega-constellations such as Starlink.
Catch me on the VIP tours and I will tell you more about it if you are interested!
Written by Dani
