Lewis stargazes in the desert

Lewis laughs at the funny poster!

Lewis the Lion had been looking forward to arriving in San Pedro de Atacama for one special reason. He had learned that in the northern part of Chile it was one of the best places in the world to go stargazing. Furthermore, was going to be observing the skies from the Atacama Desert from a special Space Observation Centre where there was next to no light pollution. In other words, there were no street lamps or lighting to obscure the natural light of the stars so you could see them in their full glory, even with the naked eye! How exciting!

On Lewis’ travels so far, he had learnt one very important thing. It gets very cold in the desert at night. (Do you remember when he had a trial run to Dubai and he was in the desert at night time?). This time he would make sure that Helen was wearing lots of layers to help her stay warm while he would snuggle up in her pocket.

A group of about 20 people were picked up on the dusty, main street of San Pedro de Atacama at 8:30 pm all wearing big coats, hats, scarves and gloves. They too knew how cold the desert was at night. This particular tour was in English although most people in the group weren’t from English speaking countries. Lewis the Lion realised how clever these people were and also how useful it is to be able to speak another language when you travel to understand the world around you.

The group arrived at the home and space observatory of a famous French astrologer, Alain Maury and were gathered in a circle outside in the pitch black. The first top-tip the guide shared with the group, as extra blankets were being handed around, was that it was warmer if you kept your legs together so to conserve your body heat. He then took orders for hot drinks for the visitors at the end of the tour.

Lewis the Lion and the French astronomer, Alain Maury

As Lewis the Lion gazed out from Helen’s warm pocket he was amazed at the view above his head. Never in his whole life had he seen the sky filled with so many stars: he could even see the Milky Way sweeping in a wave across the sky. Wow!

He was about to be even more wowed again as the tour guide started to point out different constellations (groups of stars) above their heads with a big, green laser beam which shot across the sky.

Lewis sees the green laser beam shoot across the sky

Lewis the Lion thought he was in a Star Wars film for a split-second! What a clever device to help the visitors know exactly where they should be looking. The astronomer also pointed out groups of stars (constellations) that seemed to form shapes in the sky. Sometimes they looked like their suggested name, e.g. the Scorpion whereas at other times you had to use a lot of imagination! Surprisingly, Lewis the Lion realised he knew the names of quite a few constellations already: the signs of the Zodiac.

The astronomers went on to tell the group so many interesting facts a out the universe which Lewis the Lion absolutely loved (after all, we know he loves learning new things!).

Some of the top facts that he remembers are the following:
– The stars don’t move above our heads; we move as the Earth rotates
– You can tell the difference between a planet and a star when looking up at the sky because the planets appear to move faster
– The night sky changes according to which hemisphere or rather what latitude you are at
– The most recognised constellation in the Northern Hemisphere is the Plough (which you can still partially see on the horizon in the Southern Hemisphere) whilst the most recognisable constellation in the Southern Hemisphere is the Southern Cross.
– Our closest star to the Earth is the Sun
– The distance of how far away a star is away from the Earth is measured in ‘Light Years’ and many stars are millions of light years away.

Lewis the Lion felt like his head was in a bit of a spin trying to contemplate the size of the universe and to remember all of those facts but the best bit was yet to come.

The telescope observation park

The group were then guided by torches towards a park with about a dozen enormous telescopes, which were already correctly aligned so you could see some extraordinary sights in the night sky. Some of these telescopes are the biggest in South America with a 60 cm diameter which means that you get an incredibly sharp images of stars that are thousands and millions of light years away.

Telescopes are lined up around the site

The group took it in turns to look through the viewing piece of each telescope. Some of the sights were incredible.

The astronomer lines up the telescope

Lewis the Lion could see clouds of stars (nebulae) forming many galaxies away and could even see how different stars had different colours: reds, greens and blues. It’s impossible to see that by simply looking up at the sky and yet with these telescopes you could. What a treat!

Lewis sits on one of the huge telescopes

However, Lewis the Lion was in for a further treat as one of the telescopes was focussed on a rather special planet: Saturn. Unbelievably, Lewis could even see its rings! What an incredible sight! Lewis didn’t quite believe that it was possible at first and thought that it was maybe just a drawing instead but the astrologer disproved that theory by covering up the top of the lens. Sure enough, the image disappeared: Lewis the Lion really could see Saturn! Lewis the Lion was so excited that with the astronomer’s help he even managed to take a photograph of it. Here it is:

Lewis can hardly believe that he can see the planet Saturn through the telescope!

By this time, the group had been stood outside for quite a long period of time now and were starting to feel like blocks of ice so they were then welcomed into a low-lighted room and were given their cups of hot chocolate, etc. Ooh! It was lovely just to warm your hands on the cup!

Lewis the Lion enjoys a cup of warming hot chocolate

The astronomer then conducted a question and answer session with the visitors. Lewis the Lion learnt that this eminent astrologer had even discovered some comets in the night sky and that they had been named after him too!

A final thought that the astronomer shared with the group was that if you wanted to learn how to read the night sky then you simply needed to practise: a bit like learning to read a map of a city. Otherwise, there were some great devices these days to help you know about the stars, such as applications – The Night Sky, or Google Night Sky.

Lewis the Lion got back on to the coach with a grin on his face. What a lucky lion he had been yet again to see the clearest night sky he had ever seen in his life and furthermore he had even seen a planet millions of miles away through a telescope! This really was turning out to be the trip of his lifetime!

How many constellations do you know in the night sky? How could you find out more about the stars and planets above your head?

About Helen Molloy

Helen Molloy has been a Primary Learning and Teaching Consultant, leading on the introduction of Primary Languages in the City of Stoke-on-Trent for the past 5 and a half years. She is passionate about language learning and inspiring children into developing a curiosity and awareness of other people's languages and cultures.
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