Bev Lightyear and the astroguests Watch out for the ‘Wild Duck’ clusters and more. One of the advantages of Algarve living is not just the bright and deep blue sky that we get to enjoy for over 300 days a year, but after our nearest and dearest star dips down over the horizon, the lack of clouds and light pollution means that (at least on nights when the moon doesn’t steal the show) all the other stars in the sky can shine bright and unobstructed and this creates the ideal conditions for marvelling at (and studying) the cosmos. This is what first drew English couple Bev and Jan Ewan-Smith here back in the 1980’s and drove them to found the COAA (Centro de Observação Astronómica no Algarve) in 1987. The centre is located near Portimão and having been here for so long it’s a very well known astronomy holiday centre. However, since we at The Portugal News are on a mission to bring you star-related content for this, our Star Section, I thought I would go and try to discover them for myself. Satellites beamed down my location to Google Maps and I eventually found myself outside this cute Portuguese house. I wondered if maybe I’d escaped Google’s orbit, but then I saw the tents that hide the telescopes in the garden.