La Palma

How dark the sky is at La Palma: Bortle Class 2, typical truly dark site

The zenith sky here reads 21.92 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is as dark as a natural sky gets: almost all the glow comes from airglow and starlight, not lamps.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added. On the night, haze, smoke, humidity and the Moon set the real limit; see every Bortle Class 2 place.

What's up from La Palma by season

At latitude 28.8°N, the north celestial pole stands 29° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -61° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 32° above the southern horizon. These are the constellations well placed, 35° or more above the horizon, at about 10 pm in the middle of each season, brightest first.

Showpieces from La Palma through the year

At about 10 pm on the 15th of each month; a dash means the sight is below 25° then.

Never set from La Palma

• Camelopardalis
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from La Palma

• Ara
• Carina
• Crux
• Horologium
• Indus
• Norma
• Pictor

Never rise from La Palma

• Apus
• Chamaeleon
• Circinus
• Dorado
• Hydrus
• Mensa
• Musca
• Octans
• Pavo
• Reticulum
• Triangulum Australe
• Tucana
• Volans

Where to set up at La Palma

The coordinates on this page point to Roque de los Muchachos, at 2,426 m (7,960 ft): 28.755°N, 17.885°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Arrive before dark, park facing away from other observers, and use red light only.

La Palma among the dark sky places of Spain

Each dot is a dark sky place, colored by Bortle class; select one for its page. See Dark sky places outside the United States for the full list, darkest first.

Camping and lodging at La Palma

The nearest town with motels or inns is Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain. Check the official site for campgrounds and overnight rules; many parks close their gates at night, so ask about after-dark access.

Dark sky places nearest La Palma

Observatories inside La Palma, and astronomy clubs nearby

• Gran Telescopio CanariasOpen to the public. Guided daytime visits to the observatory including GTC on scheduled days via the ORM visitor center; booking required
• Jacobus Kapteyn TelescopeResearch observatory. Robotic telescope, no public access
• Isaac Newton TelescopeOpen to the public. Included in some ORM guided visits; booking required
• Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT)Open to the public. Included in some ORM guided visits; booking required
• Roque de los Muchachos ObservatoryOpen to the public. ORM visitor center and guided telescope visits by booking
• FACT TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• CTAO North (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory North)Research observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• Galileo National TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• MAGIC TelescopesResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• Liverpool TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• MASCARA NorthResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• Mercator TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• Swedish Solar TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• William Herschel TelescopeResearch observatory. Daytime guided observatory tours by booking via the Starlight Foundation; visitor center at the summit
• New Robotic TelescopeResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)
• Warwick 1.0m TelescopeResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)
• Gravitational Wave Optical Transient ObservatoryResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)
• FRAM TelescopeResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)
• SuperWASP-NorthResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)
• Large Size TelescopeResearch observatory. Research telescope, no night access; ORM daytime small-group tours and Visitor Center (book via IAC)

See observatories and astronomy clubs around the world. Local clubs often hold their star parties at dark sky places like this one.

La Palma record

From the site's dark sky places dataset (darkparksglobal_q426). The sky by season is computed from the coordinates.