The surroundings of the sanctuary of Santa Maria de Dulcis, in addition to having one of the cleanest skies in Guara Somontano, hold countless surprises for visitors. The sanctuary, with its Mudejar plasterwork and beautiful legend of the Virgin’s apparition in a beehive (hence its name), and the Olive Forest with its twenty-century-old olive trees of different varieties, and the sundial, a curious creation in nature where the sun marks the hour on each of the 13 olive trees.
From here, we recommend observing the constellation Orion, one of the brightest and best-known in the night sky. It’s located on the celestial equator and represents the mythical hunter confronting Taurus or chasing the hare with his two hunting dogs.
It contains two of the brightest stars: Rigel and Betelgeuse, and several famous nebulas like the Orion Nebula (M42), Marian (M43), and the famous Horsehead Nebula.
The constellation Orion is easily recognizable by the three main stars that form it, known as "The Three Marys" or "The Three Wise Men." These are the three stars located in Orion's Belt: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Additionally, the constellation Orion has two very bright stars. The first is Rigel, located at Orion's left foot, and the second, Betelgeuse, is a red supergiant on Orion's right shoulder.
- Location: https://goo.gl/maps/uy61dSsmarGq9GG1A
- Observation horizon: Good
- Bortle: 4
- SQM: 21.72 mag./arc sec2
- Brightness: 0.222 mcd/m2
- Artif. Bright.: 51.0 ucd/m2
- Ratio: 0.298
This space is equipped with the following infrastructure to make observation more comfortable:
- 4 benches
- 4 loungers
- 4 informational panels about the spring, summer, autumn and winter skies
