Madeira 2024

I visited Madeira 2 times this year. First visit was with my colleague from Vihorlat Observatory – Robert Adam. The main result was the installation of a dome on the terrace of the Madeira University in the Penteada campus. The Meade telescope was installed inside as well. In addition, the allsky camera was transported to UMA. The team of Marko Radeta is working on its deployment to Achada do Teixeira. For now, it is operating on the terrace by the dome.

In November visit from an international group of astronomers was organized. The goal was to present the possibilities for observational astronomy on the island. The meeting with astronomers at the UMA university was in general promising. For example, Prof. Sobrinho agreed with the idea of installing a scientific telescope on the platform in Achada do Teixeira. He doesn’t care who installs the instrument there. Everything is better than the actual situation – an empty platform.

But unfortunately, the general impression was not good. The weather was not favorable. The participants didn’t experience an example of a night with good transparency and seeing. Contrary, a lot of light pollution was visible very well. Moreover, just after the expedition, we got images from the allsky camera, which operated on Pico Arreiro in 2022 and 2023. The results are shown in the menu item “statistics” on this webpage. The number af clear nights was only slightly higher than in Slovakia, and those clear nights are even more concentrated in the summer period. The conclusion is that the island is not a good place for a telescope hosting project. However, Achada do Teixeira can still be considered for the deployment of a scientific telescope of 1 meter in size.