Gorafe, Star Park
Gorafe, has the “Sky Interpretation Center” thanks to the Star Park certification, granted by the Starlight Foundation
Gorafe is the fourth town in Spain, and the first in Andalusia, to achieve such a distinction. The Starlight Star Parks consist of “viewpoints open to the sky”, and are usually linked to those places that protect the night sky and allow the development of observation, educational, cultural or recreational activities.
The Gorafe City Council was already original with the blackout of public lighting for the realization of the first days of astrotourism in the town, having organized more than a dozen “star parties” in recent years.
It is also no coincidence that all the tourist establishments in the municipality (Cuevas Algarves de Gorafe) have obtained the “Starlight Rural House” certification, which certifies the adaptation of its facilities to the promotion of astrotourism and its respect for the night sky.
It is also no coincidence that all the tourist establishments in the municipality (Cuevas Algarves de Gorafe) have obtained the “Starlight Rural House” certification, which certifies the adaptation of its facilities to the promotion of astrotourism and its respect for the night sky.
This process will be coordinated by the company Astronomical Tourism Andalusia, a company specialized in the dissemination of science, the organization of various activities, among which its guided “tours” of the night sky, its astronomy workshops or the Astrotourism Conference stand out. that have already taken place in the town of Gorafe. Also offering an advisory service for the management of “Starlight” accreditations, which are granted by the foundation of the same name.
Gorafe is a privileged enclave where you can get an optimal experience from astronomy. This landscape of the Guadix region enjoys an excellent quality of dark skies -one of the best on the European continent-, possible thanks to the low light pollution in rural areas. The astrotourism modality then becomes a great complement to the existing natural and cultural resources, the perfect connection of the megalithic legacy of this town with the firmament.
All this scenario encourages you to be fascinated by our firmament, as we have been doing since time immemorial.
The firmament was “dressed up” to receive the more than 150 attendees who attended Gorafe’s V Star Party on July 9, 2016.
The day passed as planned in the program: with the arrival of the participants -come from the rest of the Accitana region and Granada capital-, the Mayor of the town, Miguel Pérez, gave the formal welcome, taking stock of what had been done since the City Council to place Gorafe as a destination for the stars.
Before continuing with the observation, an illustrative conference was offered on the constellations visible on Saturday night.
With a natural sunset only possible with the public lighting switched off, from 10 p.m. until early morning, it was possible to see the objects in all their beauty with the naked eye, for which only binoculars, four telescopes and a sky were needed. dark as the gorafeño. Even when the activity ended, part of the organization stayed until dawn at the Llano Olivares viewpoint, enjoying a sky with an SQM of 20.5.
A Journey to the outside of our Galaxy, and that Miguel Ángel Pugnaire (The Astronomer’s Nest) captured in his drawings.
We do not want to forget our thanks to Radio Guadix-Cadena Ser for the special coverage dedicated to these last Astrotourism Conferences, the result of which can be heard on the modulated frequency.
