La Palma 2015

Light smog over Santa Cruz de La Palma (Canary Islands)
Light smog over Santa Cruz de La Palma (Canary Islands)

As part of a conference, I spent the afternoon on the Roque de Los Muchachos, visited at telescopes, waited for nightfall and only went back to the city after dark. We stopped again on the way down and had a good view over the west side of the island. Santa Cruz is brightly lit with the smaller villages in the background. The clouds were clearly visible due to the lights going upwards. While the lit town are beautiful to look at, they prevent us from seeing the beauty of the starry sky, negatively affect our sleep, and are also a big problem for wildlife (which in the end is a problem for humans too).

A few months ago I took a similar photo on a bike ride at daytime:

Looking back to Santa Cruz de La Palma, this bike tour started there a few hours ago.
Looking back to Santa Cruz de La Palma, this bike tour started there a few hours ago.

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