The Observatory of Costitx

The village of Costitx is one of those places in Majorca's interior that can be easily overlooked. With a population of not many more than a thousand inhabitants, it isn't exactly that big, and its historical smallness was such that it only acquired sufficient size importance in the middle of the nineteenth century to enable it to be spun out as a municipality in its own right; it had been part of neighbouring Sencelles.

The ancient history of Costitx involved, as with elsewhere on Majorca, a small Roman settlement somewhere nearby the present-day village, and this Roman connection helps to explain how it acquired its name. It was derived from a later Latin word meaning a small hill and, in a way, this small hilliness helps to further explain what is different about the current-day Costitx. Even then, this hilliness is not that hilly. The village stands a bit short of 150 metres above sea level. Not very hilly and not very high therefore, but high enough for what is there: the Observatori Astronòmic de Mallorca and the Mallorca Planetarium.

If you're going to create an observatory, common sense suggests that it might benefit from being fairly high up, but high in a Majorcan way decrees that access - to parts of the Tramuntana - is not as straightforward as it might be, while the microclimate of the mountains can create its own natural obstacle to the observer of the heavens: the dampness of its air. So, if the mountains are not ideal, where else would you put an observatory?

The reasons for Costitx being its home can be traced to two key factors. One is that the enthusiasts who first established an amateur observatory in the 1970s were in that neighbouring town of which Costitx was once a part - Sencelles - and that their basic telescopic technology was, so a version of events goes, responsible for detecting the return of Halley's Comet in 1986 (this claim is not one that is today given a great deal of prominence but claim there nevertheless was). But clearly these enthusiasts had made their mark and on the back of it came the impetus to establish a proper observatory. Enter into the equation the second key factor: Maria Antonia Munar. The former leader of the Council of Majorca, currently serving time because of her part in corrupt dealing, was the mayor of Costitx. She was also, from 1987 to 1995, the councillor for education and culture. Whatever might now be thought of her, she was undoubtedly important in garnering political support for the project and in realising it. The observatory became a reality in 1991.

One of those enthusiasts is the current director, Salvador Sánchez, and under his directorship the observatory has gained an important role in asteroid detection, pioneering the use of robotic telescopes and being responsible, among other things, for discovering asteroid 128036, otherwise now known as the asteroid Rafaelnadal. The Planetarium came into being around the same time as that asteroid was detected in 2003. It is, in a sense, the commercial wing of the observatory and this, the commercial aspect, is where the story of Majorca's observatory runs up against a problem.

The Council of Majorca provides the main source of funding for the Planetarium, but the observatory is seriously underfunded. The people who work there are paid through aid from the European Space Agency, but the funding situation has become critical. Last year President Bauzá met with the ministry of defence and asked for the observatory to come under its auspices and so its funding. Evidence as to whether the president got very far with this request is thin on the ground. Yet, here is an observatory which, among its various achievements, was the first, in 2009, to detect the (410777) 2009 FD Asteroid, considered by NASA to represent a high risk in terms of collision.

The observatory is a prime example of how ambitions for the development of new technologies and innovation can occur in Majorca. For politicians and economists who desire technologically innovative diversification, it should be held up as a shining example of what can be achieved and what, by extension, can be used to give Majorca an international reputation for innovation and so potentially attract investment for technological innovation of all sorts. But somehow, the observatory and indeed the Planetarium slip under the radar. Neither is as well known as should be the case, a fault perhaps of promotional indifference.

Salvador Sánchez said last year that were it not for pride, the observatory would close, and that in itself is a damning indictment of neglect. There are moves to use crowdfunding to improve a financial situation that has often been reliant on support from foundations, but surely there should be greater state funds for such an important facility.

The Planetarium's audiovisual spectacular "Evolution" is staged every Friday and Saturday evening from 7pm and there is an English version. Further information: websites - www.mallorcaplanetarium.com and www.oam.es.

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