Rationalists are on the rise. And that is their slogan their focus put your nation first i am taking you. To highlights different shades of nationalism and to find out what that nation mean to you. To share your story join the conversation here on to tell me you on twitter and on facebook. Tourism in the twenty First Century looks to the stars. Looking for experiences and astronomy is a new experience not available to them previously and the new. The old have a saying that they tell you on the moon or. On some of the stars and spain is one of the best destinations in the world to enjoy astronomy its a trend on the rise. Thats more mastro tourism is giving value to the attraction of the night sky there are proven. Scientific institutions businesses and tourist establishment are backing this new trend. That the family thousand years ago astro tours and sounded like tons fiction didnt it who would come from abroad just to look at styles from it i mean i left it to. Him as a bit more than thirty thousand german astronomers have to go abroad to practice their hobby with us here in. This intelligent tourism offers unique experiences to travelers from all over the world to discover in the southwest of europe. I dont know who that is spending the night looking through a telescope or even with the naked eye or to see things theyve never seen before is an experience that remember for the rest of their lives and the things in life. Would. In the Canary Islands the universe seems to feel closer to long with other locations in southwestern europe the spanish archipelago is an ideal location for observing the sky. Lebanese levity got in the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands should actually be considered as a nature reserve for practicing astronomy in europe but i think that less than a meal it would open. Their geographic setting with the mountains and climate make these islands a kind of window on the cosmos where many nations would like to carry out groundbreaking research. And there more to this book is that we have telescopes from a great many countries especially at the observatory apollo rocketed us much ocho sun the palm island. Youll find the best set of telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere there if not in the whole world is going to the moon. Astronomy arguably the first science cultivated by humans is in some danger Light Pollution from cities obscures the stars. And. Astronomers and astrophysicists were the first to identify the danger of losing the night sky society wasnt aware of the importance of preserving that sky people thought astronomers were the only ones interested for scientific or personal reasons but its the most keith s. S. Is the in the lot of you know we may be witnessing the end of dark nights. In the cities are excessively illuminated. Most of the observatories have had to move farther and farther away to increasingly remote settings lovise caught up with the mother motos. Since the one nine hundred eighty s. International experts have warned of the consequences of Light Pollution it contributes to Climate Change modifies the behavior of certain animals and affects peoples health. So i dont buy it already weve evolved with these cycles between day and night and we know our internal clock our security and rhythm is disrupted a lot of people at what i listen you dont know i would have been otherwise i think. The u. S. Based International DarkSky Association has been devoted to protecting dark skies since one thousand nine hundred eight it is just one of the organizations working to preserve these spaces. In europe the Canary Islands have played a decisive role the Starlight Foundation founded by the Canary Islands institute of astrophysics has been active since two thousand and seven. They have used the right now they go with the that is the Astrophysics Institute is committed to conserving the skies. Not only for use by scientists you know but also as part of humanitys intangible heritage. For the enjoyment of the general public. Then he said this if. Scientists and nonprofessional astronomers from various nations Work Together with this organization the objectives are to follow to preserve dark skies and promote astronomy. To do so they consider tourism a way of spreading knowledge with the support of the International AstronomyAssociation Unesco and the World Tourism Organization this foundation certifies the quality of the sky. And here in the middle of it some skies look beautiful but its not guaranteed theyll stay that wife and starlight certifications ensure that there are regulations that will keep the skies so dark that people can enjoy the skies. The Canary Islands is the birthplace of european astro tourism other regions in the south of spain with significant attractions for visitors and a good infrastructure have added astronomy to their offerings. After the war and the skies are clear day and night and on to lose your ideal for astro tourism when the sun shines tourists can enjoy the weather the beach bars and the hotels so why not grab a telescope at night and take advantage of the sky and if you look at the nemo. Many people are interested in a different type of tourism its no longer enough just to go and look at places they want to go deeper and have a real experience with you because there are tours to travel just to practice astronomy the rest of the trip is extra as if. The Iberian Peninsula offers the best conditions for observation. In addition to its geographic location and climate with a large number of clear nights throughout the year it is sparsely populated in many regions on the one. In central and Northern Europe the settled areas are quite scattered about there are lots of homes and small residential areas between the cities where the. Cities are compact and then there are a lot of unpopulated rule areas between them that means we have skies and visitors to spain are looking for these very very clear skies that have been lost in their own countries. Spains privilege situation did not go unnoticed by the great powers of the Twentieth Century who built their astronomical complexes here. These antennas played a central role in the moon landing nasa set them up in robledo in the early one nine hundred sixty s. Theyre part of the u. S. Agency satellite monitoring and space projects complex. In the one nine hundred seventy s. Domes changed the landscape of sierra. And in southeastern spain at over two thousand meters altitude Continental EuropeLargest Observatory was built here the german spanish Astronomical Center. Helming came to spain in the one nine hundred seventy s. Today he is one of the few german engineers who work here he knows the Centers History very well. In the one nine hundred sixty s. Germany was interested in investing more in astronomy which is why they looked for a location for a new Astronomical Center. They looked in the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere they looked in france italy greece and spain the best place was here in the south of spain. One line of research at the center is devoted to creating innovative instruments an example is carmen s. From. Carmen s. Was an idea that arose at a Scientific Meeting in two thousand and eight where Eleven International institutions agreed to create a device that could do what had never been possible in science before it detects planets outside our solar system which like earth could potentially support life with what on earth is the. Color otto is also exceptionally productive its the European Center that generates the highest number of scientific publications thats thanks to on again harle and her colleagues. From this room she monitors the telescopes in the center during the night they become the eyes of scientists all over the world. Some astronomers come here themselves or we follow their detailed instructions and carry out the research for them they tell us what to observe how long which filter which entrance lit what spectrum and so on. They ask and we have served at the end of the night we send them the data and then at their various Research Centers they examine the data and decide if we need to make changes or continue as is this is you can get it to the time within the. At the control center we meet on a pasquali this italian astronomer has traveled from Heidelberg University to supervise her observation hours tonight. Let me reach my research focuses on the formation of galaxies and have a change a return. To what im doing now is studying these galaxies which equal essential galaxies in that half the possibility of growing and move with other galaxies. Increasing then must son die mention over time. To the mass of the main sewer nicci at that time the ball with. P. M. S. Any is essential for this that this is the only way we can understand how styles aborning galaxies at different stages of development in the universe see. The new bass on. The firmament is observed by brilliant scientists but also by thousands of amateur astronomers their contribution cannot be underestimated before and i mean that we professionals must form closer ties with amateur astronomers first because im convinced that they will contribute to the future of professional astronomy and second because a lot of science can be done with equipment that they already have. As a boy juan de weese consols car bio dreamed of becoming an astronomer and yet his professional life took him down other roads so instead for almost thirty years he has spent all his free time on astronomy. As amateurs we can work intensively with professional astronomers its very exciting because instead of storing our work on our own computers we added to databases that others can use. He is prolific he publishes books writes for scientific journals and does research with International Groups in recent years he helped discover a supernova with an italian team. A supernova is the most cataclysmic phenomenon in the universe since the big bang seeing it live being part of the co discovery of a supernova justifies all those hours all the time devoted to it although thats not the only reason to do it you do it because its fun and you enjoy it and the data you gather night after night can be useful for other people. Thats how he cultivate his hobby he spends hours and hours interpreting data the times he used to sit outside and gaze into the night sky are long past. When you observe from a fixed spots like your house you have to have an observatory in place to avoid always setting it up and taking it down which is tedious. Nowadays nonprofessional astronomers who are more serious about this can have equipment setup in a remote observatory and then they can work from home you know from. Amateur astronomers from other countries also choose to come to the Iberian Peninsula the nine hundred and you have travelled from germany to fragonard sierra in the foothills of sierra madre now theyve come with a clear objective we will. Set up a new telescope and where world test. Automatic. Breaking off and there for me for the crew of theirs is one of the last telescopes set up here for hosting a special way of renting a private observatory they chose this location after analyzing other destinations on other continents. This is the best place for installing robot telescope because its very dark here the first point of the other board is a very good seeing here and you can reach but very fast especially from germany you just have to fly to and you hear very short so lets find. A sound interrupts the interview the dome on the neighboring observatory starts moving the sun is setting and the Building Owner of this telescope wants to check todays sky conditions from the heart of europe he directs operations by Remote Control as he watches us through his camera in a few weeks these astronomers will be able to do the same thing from their homes in munich the generally were making pictures of galaxies sometimes planetary nebula we are not really doing scientific stuff like measurements for a light for supernova Something Like that thats only if were not scientists in that way were just doing our spare time we are you know amateur astronomers and just viking pretty pictures as you can see and we also have a look at the stars here to see because the travelling is not possible anymore its the life illusion is too strong so were going here to do. In germany alone there are thirty thousand amateur astronomers who have to travel outside their country to be able to enjoy their hobby the same thing happens in other countries some of these aficionados have come to this astronomical complex Community People come here for the climate and the sky is mainly from Northern Europe weve got people from various nations from russia Great Britain france and belgium the u. S. Company in america came here to build a telescope with us i mean were going to search them even telescope you. The initial forecasts were soon surpassed and a business was born with a certain grow mantic touch the images that are now going to all this then some years ago an experimental and we realized the sky was of incredible quality we would come with a telescope to look at the stars and it was great we invited friends and since jose luis had good connections in the astronomy scene he knew there was big demand for places to put up telescopes. So we thought maybe that was a good way to indulge our passion for astronomy and run a business at the same time its an add on one of. The hosting service has given them International Prestige among astronomers the complex also offers accommodation and workshops. At night for the leading lights make their entrance. Between the gnarled folks in the broad landscape the stars appear in dazzling brilliance. Is the bottom of them over there in this area where you can see about two thousand stars compared with the city where you can see only thirty or forty maybe fifty stars maximum you get one likes. To learn more about stars we attend an astronomy session. Close san luis can you honestly the soul of this project place a stars within the context of the universe. Is that was he that he said everything were seeing here is expanding the universe is huge its fourteen billion years old and still expanding. We live in a large super city the milky way with over four hundred billion stars but that doesnt mean the u. S. History yes. The numbers are astonishing the explanations show how important astronomy has always been for humans. All our grandparents knew and identified the stars speak of the brightest star in the constellation virgo that means with spike and when it appeared in the east they knew it was time to sew or harvest astronomy was essential for daily life but today environmentalists pollution and all our technology have completely disconnected us and. The stars have gone out in the eyes of many people who live in the developed world. This is what the planet looks like at night artificial light illuminates large surfaces of the Northern Hemisphere. Is the largest dam in western europe the waters of the river serve as the boundary between spain and portugal. The portuguese were the pioneers in promoting astro tourism. The idea arose in two thousand and eight as part of creating a Sustainable Program for the ok region to offer something unique in terms of nature and resources for tourism we thought of something no one had considered before the sky. Kjetil sail. Its now a starlight Tourist Destination certified by the Starlight Foundation in two thousand and eleven we were the First Destination in the world to obtain this certification. Since then alqaeda has become a must visit destination for astro truism visitors fall into two groups since well meantime just. So essentially theres the amateur astronomers who love observing the sky and then theres a large increase in families many children hear about the night sky at school but they cant see the constellations in the cities where they live. So they come here with their parents to experience the dark skies together leaving the show thats not. This megalithic monument the cromlech of chess was moved near months of us when the dam was built its the setting for summer star parties and with face of the familiar. Its a party for the whole family the activities are suitable for both children and adults you can observe the sun theres a workshop for adults and children about the solar system and right now weve got a yoga session here behind us here meeting with. The presence of hundreds of people lends a special symbolism to this place amid five thousand year old stones its a unique place to connect with the universe. Night falls. And sheltered by the convent its time to learn more about astronomy. Claro the official astro photographer here shares his interest in the science of astronomy from a different perspective photographing space must ending firmly on the earth. We want space to be more than just the telescope photographs diss