Photographic Exhibition - "A Luz da Noite no Fim do Mundo"

“A Luz da Noite no Fim do Mundo” brings together astronomical photographs by José María Fernández Vara, captured with two small telescopes from Cabo de São Vicente. The images show stars, nebulae and galaxies, accompanied by texts about the objects depicted, their location and their distance from Earth, measured in light-years.

The exhibition draws on the historical designation of Cabo de São Vicente as the “End of the World”, used by the ancient Greeks and Romans and by Mediterranean navigators until the beginning of the Age of Discoveries. Among the topics addressed is the question “Why is the night dark?”, explained by the enormous distance of the celestial bodies, despite their intense luminosity.

José María Fernández Vara was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1956. He studied Art History at Universidade Complutense and Sports Sciences at Universidade Politécnica de Madrid. A retired professor and resident of Budens, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, he devotes himself to astrophotography and observing the night sky.