Troodos

The Milky Way arching over a mountain valley, with stars reflected in a high-altitude lake

Astrotourism

Stargazing from Troodos: a practical guide to Cyprus's mountain dark sky

If you live anywhere on Cyprus, you can be under SQM 21.3 skies in 90 minutes. The Troodos massif covers the central third of the island, peaks at 1,952 m on Mount Olympus, and is the only place on Cyprus with both real darkness and paved roads to it. From my balcony in Nicosia (Bortle 7, SQM around 19.0 on a good night), the difference is roughly two visual magnitudes. The Milky Way goes from “you can almost see it” to “you can read your watch by it.” ...

A Lyrid meteor streaks across a dark starfield in this 2022 photograph

Celestial event

The 2026 Lyrids are done. The Eta Aquariids are next, and the moon is going to fight you

The Lyrids peaked around 19:40 UT on April 22 — essentially yesterday evening for anyone in Europe. Conditions were as good as this shower gets: a new moon on April 17 meant only a thin crescent in the sky, and it set before 10 pm local, leaving the prime post-midnight hours properly dark. Under a clean dark site the International Meteor Organization expected 18–20 meteors per hour at the peak. From a light-polluted backyard, Space.com put realistic rates closer to 8–12/hour. ...