Members of the Astrophoto School pose at Teide Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, September 30, 2014. // David J. Eicher
Well, the last day of the magnificent Starmus Festival in the Canary Islands wrapped up Tuesday, September 30, at the Teide Observatory on Tenerife. There we held the third and final day of the Starmus Astrophoto School, in which Damian Peach and I gave talks on image processing (Damian) and photorgaphic treasures from
Astronomy magazine’s vault (me).
It marked the end of 10 days of incredible adventure, of talks, a spectacular concert, a great film, lots of talking over dinners and lunches, and meetings about all manner of projects. The sessions included three Nobel Prize laureates, nine astronauts, Director Garik Israelian, rock star Brian May, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, and many other dignitaries, headlined by Prof. Stephen Hawking.
It was an experience like no other I’ve ever had. It also marked the publication of the Starmus 2011 book,
Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space, which I had the pleasure of editing along with Israelian and May.
Exhausted and blindsided with lots of work on my return to Wisconsin, I arrived back late last week. It has been nonstop ever since.
One thing is certain, however: the notion that another Starmus will take place is already in the air!
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Starmus begins with Wilson, Eicher, Dawkins, and Harvati Starmus Day 2: Hawking, May, 51 Degrees North film Starmus Day 3: Book signing, Duke, Kroto, Cunningham, Ellis Starmus Day 4: 108-minute round table at the world's largest telescope Starmus Day 5: Sonic Universe Concert — Rick Wakeman and Brian May Starmus ends, Astrophoto School begins Starmus Astrophoto School, Day 2