Sometimes the most profound discoveries come when we least expect them. For one space writer who spent years crafting guides about the night sky, nothing could have prepared her for the awe-inspiring moment when she finally witnessed the Milky Way in all its glory above the Canary Islands.

Traveling to La Palma and Tenerife with New Scientist Discovery Tours, she joined fellow astronomy enthusiasts on an adventure that would transform her understanding of what the night sky can truly offer. After years of observing from light-polluted central England, where even the famous Pleiades star cluster required careful searching, she was about to experience something extraordinary.

The transformation was immediate and overwhelming. The Pleiades appeared crisp and luminous without any effort. Even more remarkably, the Andromeda Galaxy—our neighboring galaxy normally invisible without binoculars—appeared as a pale, unmistakable haze hovering above the volcanic landscape. The sheer abundance of stars was so magnificent that familiar constellations became challenging to identify, surrounded by thousands of stars never visible from home.

The highlight came at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the world's top three observing sites. The journey there felt magical, climbing above the clouds through hairpin bends until gleaming white telescope domes appeared against a moonlike landscape. The group visited the Gran Telescopio Canarias, currently the world's largest single optical telescope, featuring an impressive 10.4-meter mirror.

The day included an unforgettable view of the sun through a hydrogen alpha telescope, revealing our star as a glowing, dancing surface covered in swirling filaments and looping prominences. As sunset approached, the caldera viewpoint offered unbridled beauty—volcano walls glowing gold against vivid pink and orange skies, with the delicate Belt of Venus appearing in the opposite direction.

Then came the moment that changed everything. As darkness fell, stars emerged one by one, then dozens, then thousands, until the Milky Way appeared—a pale, luminous river flowing through the cosmos. After years of writing about it, seeing it firsthand brought profound understanding of what truly dark skies can reveal.

The adventure extended beyond the heavens. La Palma's dramatic volcanic landscape offered its own wonders, from deep ravines where vegetation clings to steep walls to fresh lava fields from the 2021 eruption. The group explored lava tubes and traced molten rock flows to the ocean, witnessing Earth's raw creative power.

Crossing to Tenerife by ferry at dawn, Mount Teide emerged from the mist, promising more wonders in the rust-colored, Mars-like terrain of Teide National Park.

This journey reminds us that extraordinary experiences await when we venture beyond our everyday environments. The pristine dark skies of the Canary Islands offer not just astronomical observations, but transformative moments that reconnect us with the universe and remind us of the spectacular beauty that surrounds us—if only we know where to look.