The participants in the second Hispano-American Festival of Authors which is taking place in Los Llanos de Aridane (La Palma) paid a visit, yesterday, to the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory during a day when Astronomy played the main role. During the afternoon there was a panel discussion in tribute to the Founding Director of the instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Francisco Sánchez, and at night the opportunity to observe the sky with amateur telescopes.
"The Inspiring Force of the Universe. Tribute to Francisco Sánchez" was the topic of the panel discussion which brought together astrophysicists and authors yesterday during the second edition of the Hispano-American Festival of Authors, organized in the La Palma city of Los Llanos de Aridane. This panel discussion took place in the Benahoarita Archaeological Museum, and those taking part, as well as Francisco Sánchez, the Founding Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Rafael Rebolo López, the current director of the IAC, Casiana Muñoz Tuñón, astrophysicist and Deputy Director of the IAC and the authors Karla Suárez, and Alberto Ruy-Sánchez. The discussion was moderated by Carmen del Puerto, Head of Outreach and Press Unit (UC3) of the IAC.
Francisco Sánchez, author of the book recently published by the IAC "Dreaming of star. This is how Astrophysics in Spain was born and consolidated" was the person who promoted the existence of the Canary Observatories. After studying physics at the Complutense University, Madrid, he showed, with continuous observations from the Canary mountain tops, the extraordinary quality of their skies, and he promoted them internationally, making them attract the most advanced telescopes. He was a pioneer and developer of astrophysics and its affine technologies in Spain, and became the first Professor of astrophysics in a Spanish university. He founded the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and directed it until 2013. He achieved the construction and installation on La Palma of the biggest and most advanced optical telescope, the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC).
Sánchez commented on some episodes in his book, especially about the difficulties of his beginnings in the Canaries. He told how, in the midst of the Cold War, the Defence Ministry had wanted to install military radar at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, which would have frustrated the astronomical project, and that in that case La Palma would not be, today, a world reference in astrophysics. But he managed to make the Army change its mind.
He also talked about the scientific contributions of the GTC and of those which could be made in the future by the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) among them the detection of atmospheres around extrasolar planets within the Galaxy, and the identification of Earth-threatening asteroids with sufficient warning. To these contributions one must add the socio-economic and cultural benefits for La Palma. "For the economy of the island, if today some 600 families earn their living from astronomy, directly or indirectly, if the TMT came here this would duplicate the figure and would mean that over 1000 families would be supported by science". The installation of this telescope on La Palma is supported unanimously by the Canary Parliament, and by the Autonomous Government of the Canaries if, finally, the TMT cannot be built on Hawaii.
The participants in this Hispano-American Festival of Authors also expressed their admiration for the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, a scientific installation very well integrated into a "magnificent" setting, and which works for a noble cause for humanity, the advance of knowledge. The Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa had said during the inauguration of the Festival that literature helps to prevent barbarism. Rafael Rebolo recalled this remark, and added "I also believe that science helps to avoid barbarism, and with science and literature together, this goes without saying”
The authors and the astrophysicists also talked about their dreams, emotions, and passions, and gave their views that literature and astronomy are two connected universes. " An author and a scientist try to explain the world, the only difference is the language". This gave rise to some of the metaphors and poetic phrases used during the panel discussion, such as "We are stardust" by Carl Sagan, " Light with time in it" by Juan Ramón Jiménez, and " The Prose of the Observatory " by Julio Cortázar (Complete video of the paneldiscussion: Vídeo completo de la mesa redonda)
Visit to the Observatory
In the context of the second edition of the Festival, just as in the previous edition, the IAC yesterday invited the participants to visit the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the municipality of Garafía. During the visit the authors were introduced to some of the scientific installations working at the summit in La Palma, such as the MAGIC telescopes, the LST-1 telescope, and the GTC. Juan Carlos Pérez Arencibia, the manager of the Observatory, Patricia Márquez, the engineer in charge of the LST-1, Eduardo Colombo, support astronomer on the MAGIC telescopes, and Romano Corradi, the director of the GTC, guided the group around these unique instruments and gave the relevant explanations.
At night, the authors could enjoy a night-time observations with amateur telescopes outside the Centre for the interpretation of the Tubes of Fire Volcanic caves in the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane, and were given a guided tour of this volcanic tube.
Más información:
Vídeo de la mesa redonda: https://youtu.be/arW9vBWBDZw
Página web del Festival: https://hispanoamericanodeescritores.com
Notas de prensa relacionadas:
El IAC vuelve a colaborar con el Festival Hispanoamericano de Escritores en La Palma
Estrellas de la literatura ‘tocan el cielo’ en el Observatorio de La Palma
El IAC colabora con el primer Festival Hispanoamericano de Escritores en La Palma
