Alqueva: Some of the Darkest, Clearest Skies on Earth

By Nancy Atkinson - April 10, 2012 at 8:23 PM UTC | Observing
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It's a place with dark skies, clear nights and ancient astronomical megaliths. What more could you want in an astro-destination? The Great Lake Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal is the first site in the world to receive the "Starlight Tourism Destination" certification and has good atmospheric conditions for stargazing for more than 250 nights of the year, as well as having special lodging just for astro-tourists. The services for guests include late night meals and meals to go for stargazers, available telescopes and binoculars, and classes on astronomy and observing.

Astrophotographer Miguel Claro was tasked with having just two nights to take images of one part of this Dark Sky Reserve to help promote the region, and he has sent Universe Today his stunning images. "They are representative of the Monsaraz region, one of the locations covered by the Dark Sky Reserve area and that had the best dark sky measures in the process of Starlight validation," Claro told UT. "Even being so dark, and without the presence of the Moon to light up the landscape - at this time of the year without the major presence Milky Way - I had to use very high ISO´s, so there were some differences between heaven and Earth elements, avoiding overly dark images. But the sky was so dark, that we could find M33 with unaided eye."

Enjoy several of Claro's images below, as well as finding out more about this dark sky destination.

[caption id="attachment_94513" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Nearby Monsaraz Castle, with the Moon and Venus at the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal. Credit: © Miguel Claro"]

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[caption id="attachment_94514" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Lago Alqueva and star trails in the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal. Credit: © Miguel Claro"]

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[caption id="attachment_94515" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Lodging at the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal. Credit: © Miguel Claro"]

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[caption id="attachment_94511" align="aligncenter" width="386" caption="A monolith in the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal. Credit: © Miguel Claro"]

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[caption id="attachment_94516" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Venus and the Moon in February 2012 at the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve in Portugal. Credit: © Miguel Claro"]

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The Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve is coordinated by

Genuineland

in partnership with the Tourism Lands of the Great Lake Alqueva, the Alentejo Coordination and Regional Development Commission and EDIA, SA and with the collaboration of APAA - Portuguese Association of Amateurs Astronomers- through Dr. Guilherme de Almeida and Eng. Vitor Quinta, as well with external participation of Dr. Raul Lima, for the sky measurements that were made during the certification process.

For more information about the Lake Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve see this website. Enjoy more of

Miguel Claro's images at his website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com