How does a universal banality – a starry sky – become the sign of a planet going wrong? The observation is simple: light pollution harms (the verb is chosen) the observation of the Universe. “Light is used not to illuminate, but to dazzle”, regrets the geographer Nicolas Bourgeois. Simple amateurs or astrophysicists, all victims of this drift!
The creation of the Rice label (International Dark Sky Reserve) by the International Dark Sky Association gives us hope. In 2013, France inaugurated its first official site around the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, whose observatory located at an altitude of 2,876 meters has been in operation since 1880. In 2016 comes the turn of the Cévennes national park, then in 2019 Alpes Azur Mercantour, and in 2021 the Millevaches plateau.
But the French starry sky is not restricted to these territories alone. Queyras, Baronnies provençales, Ardèche, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, etc., everywhere we raise our eyes to infinity.
Elsewhere, aware of the light pollution they generate, towns are starting to lower the intensity of public lighting. Can do better, believes Nicolas Bourgeois: “We must also light where it is really useful. But the most effective solution since the energy crisis of 2022 remains pure and simple extinction for part of the night.” Radical, certainly, but less light makes the star shine and generates substantial financial savings, a very virtuous circle.
Sleep at 3,000 meters in the stars
A four-hour walk connects Saint-Véran to the Château-Renard observatory. Up there, after visiting the facilities, we have dinner, then we observe the stars from the dome. Short night, rising thirty minutes before that of the sun to see the dawn of day. Magic. €95/pers., from 4 to 8 participants. reservation.lequeyras.com
All the Hautes-Alpes on haute-alpes.net
The Hautes-Pyrénées at the gates of heaven
After a visit to the Angora goat farm in the village of Aulon, head to the hamlet of Lurgues. From there, a walk at dusk along a path marked with luminescent objects leads to the observation site. A tip: come with a hammock. lesbellesnuits.fr (in construction).
• La Boutique des Pyrénées, ideal for building your stay in Hautes-Pyrénées: tourism-hautes-pyrenees.com or 05 62 56 70 00.
Three questions to Nicolas Bourgeois*
L’Express: What is the purpose of the Rice label?
Nicholas Bourgeois: Protect from the ground floor an object above ground! The sky is a new type of space to be protected. Better, the night becomes a natural environment. Did you know that a third of the fauna on earth is nocturnal?
Four sites in France, is that not much?
There are many places in our country recognized for their starry skies, but not yet as an environment to be protected. For this reason, a national federation project was launched. At the same time, action must be taken to raise public awareness of light pollution by relating it to pollution in the broad sense and placing it on the environmental level.
How to convey the need to safeguard the starry sky?
Humans have a real natural sensitivity to beauty and wonder. So, at the Pic du Midi, I confront the public with their ability to be dazzled by the Pyrenean landscapes under the stars. A way for everyone to reconnect with the night, and therefore with nature.
* Deputy Director of the Régie du Pic du Midi, Nicolas Bourgeois contributed to the implementation of the objectives of the International Dark Sky Reserve.