They name La Palma the island of stars, and in April 2025, it grew to become the epicenter for science, stargazing and music. I used to be there for STARMUS, a competition that brings collectively Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, musicians and science lovers for a number of days of talks, performances and cosmic inspiration. However nothing ready me for the second I first seemed up on the evening sky.
Standing upon the rooftop terrace of our resort, within the stunning city of Los Llanos de Aridane, I used to be in awe. The celebs did not twinkle, they blazed. Regardless of being removed from the prime skywatching websites, the sky overhead was a stunning dome of starlight. I eagerly reached for my cellphone, anticipating a grainy blur. However to my shock, the pictures captured a sky bursting with stars and distant mountain silhouettes etched towards the evening sky.
STARMUS La Palma was a really particular expertise — one which surrounded me with stars each above and beside me. It was inspiring to stroll amongst a few of the world’s brightest minds and largest dreamers, all gathered on an island that feels as alive because the universe we got here to rejoice.
La Palma — The island of stars
The clear skies and lack of sunshine air pollution on La Palma, or Isla Bonita (the Lovely Island), within the Canary Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa, make it a haven for astronomy lovers. In 2007, the island grew to become the world’s first Starlight Reserve, a protected space dedicated to preserving the standard of the night sky.
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“The necessities for a Starlight Reserve particularly handle the options, peculiarities and capabilities of every house, which can relate to the preservation of the circumstances for astronomical commentary, the conservation of nature, the integrity of nocturnal landscapes or websites of cultural heritage,” based on a press release on the Starlight Foundation website.
The Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world’s largest single-aperture optical telescope, stands as a sentinel of scientific discovery atop Roque de los Muchachos, the very best level on the island at round 7,900 toes (2,426 meters).
One of the crucial hanging components of our go to to Roque de los Muchachos, apart from the reasonably alien panorama as we drove up the mountain, was seeing the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) taking form. Nonetheless beneath building, this next-generation facility will discover a few of the most explosive phenomena within the gamma-ray universe. CTAO goals to unravel the mysteries behind cosmic particles, supermassive black holes and even dark matter, as per the official CTAO website. It is going to be the primary observatory of its sort to supply open entry to its knowledge. “As a global observatory, the CTAO is aware of that sharing our information solely makes us stronger,” reads a press release on the location.
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The CTAO will function throughout two websites: one within the northern hemisphere, right here on La Palma, and the opposite in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Collectively, they may host more than 60 telescopes, making it the most important and strongest gamma-ray observatory on Earth. The primary telescopes are anticipated to be deployed throughout the subsequent few years, with full operations deliberate by the end of the decade.
La Palma eruption
La Palma not solely performs a pioneering position in astronomy, but in addition serves as a stark reminder of Earth’s volatility. In 2021, the island was shaken by a dramatic volcanic eruption that modified the panorama perpetually.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma erupted from Sept. 19 to Dec. 13, 2021, with greater than 20,000 earthquakes going down within the days and weeks earlier than the eruption. Greater than 7,000 folks had been evacuated from their properties. Lava swallowed over 1,300 residences, coated roads and farms, and disrupted hundreds of lives . But the spirit of the island wasn’t damaged.
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The resilience of La Palma lives in each rebuilt house, each replanted backyard and each one that selected to remain following the eruption. STARMUS La Palma honored that spirit, not solely by returning to this cherished island and birthplace of STARMUS however by dedicating its presence to revitalization, engagement and hope.
STARMUS La Palma — The place science meets sound
STARMUS La Palma was nothing wanting extraordinary. Held from April 25 to twenty-eight, the competition introduced collectively greater than 45 audio system, together with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, former astronauts Chris Hadfield and Kathryn Thornton, and primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall. Nevertheless it wasn’t nearly huge names. It was about huge concepts and significant conversations.
One of the crucial memorable speeches got here from Goodall herself.
“There’s this indomitable spirit that individuals have,” Goodall stated throughout her keynote speech. “So many individuals tackling initiatives that appear not possible, individuals who will not quit, individuals who do carry nature again to a spot that we have now destroyed.”
Goodall praised scientists utilizing our superb mind to create know-how that may allow us to reside in concord with the pure world, for instance, various energies.
“Nature will come again,” Goodall stated — a easy however highly effective message of resilience and hope. Her phrases resonated deeply with the setting. In La Palma, the place the 2021 volcanic eruption devastated complete communities, indicators of restoration at the moment are in all places. Inexperienced shoots are pushing by way of the volcanic soil, and new life is slowly reclaiming the panorama. Goodall’s message wasn’t simply metaphorical right here — it was seen, rising, and actual.
We might make the sky invisible to the bottom if we’re not cautious
Xavier Barcons, Director Normal of the European Southern Observatory
In the meantime, Xavier Barcons, Director Normal of the European Southern Observatory, gave an eye-opening speak concerning the significance of darkish skies and the way big telescopes are altering our view of the universe.
“We might make the sky invisible to the bottom if we’re not cautious,” Barcons stated throughout his lecture.
Barcons additionally highlighted the vulnerability of the world’s most valuable sky-observing location, the summit of Mount Paranal, the location of the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Giant Telescope (VLT) , which is liable to being blinded by gentle air pollution from a deliberate renewable power undertaking.
Learn extra: World’s largest telescope threatened by light pollution from renewable energy project
Equally eye-opening was Chema Alonso’s speak on hacking AI. Equal components thrilling and terrifying, his phrases painted an image of a future through which AI’s promise have to be balanced by accountable management.
Whereas astrophysicist and SETI pioneer Jill Tarter talked about trying to find clever extraterrestrial know-how, how we do it, and what we’re on the lookout for in huge to reply the age-old query “are we alone?”
“It is a very outdated query, it entails us, our place within the universe, how we got here to be and the way we would evolve sooner or later,” Tarter stated. “And I feel it is terribly essential.”
A glimpse of tomorrow
All through the week, audio system raised crucial questions on sky air pollution, satellite tv for pc particles and our altering ambiance. What does it imply to guard the evening sky? Ought to or not it’s thought-about a human proper?
Trying up at La Palma’s pristine skies, it is arduous to imagine such a view might disappear. And but, that is precisely what many worry. The message from STARMUS was clear: we want world stewardship to safeguard this pure marvel. I see the celebrities otherwise now. Not simply as factors of sunshine, however as fragile beacons. The evening sky connects us all — and it is ours to guard.
As our flight took off from La Palma, the island fell away behind me — its black volcanic ridges, its verdant forests and a sky so impossibly filled with stars. I felt modified. Not simply impressed, however recalibrated. Again house, streetlights compete with the celebrities. Life returns to its ordinary buzz. However one thing in me has shifted.
I went to STARMUS for science and music. I got here again in love with the sky, the science, and the unimaginable island of La Palma.
