ARECA
Association Reunionnaise pour l'Etude du Ciel Austral
The Association Reunionnaise pour l'Etude du Ciel Austral was born in 1986 soon after
the last visit of the HALLEY's comet.
Born after a request of
the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (INSU) a departement of the french CNRS
which was in charge of a site study for the setting up of the Very Large telescope
(VLT), the famous european telescope actually starting operating in Chile.
Gérard Hesler was put in charge of creating an amateur astronomy group to make
the meteorological study of the second summit of Reunion Island called Grand Benare
(2896m high ).
The Grand Benare is as good as Chile during the 6 months around the austral winter
but really to wet during 3 months ( december to february ). So the VLT is in Chile !!!
Comparison Grand Bénare - Paranal .
The astronomy group survived after the one year's study and is still promoting
astronomy among the public.
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