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Amateur astronomers will be able to admire dozens of shooting stars per hour in the night sky this weekend, and perhaps the northern lights, during the 34th edition of the Nuits des étoiles dedicated to astrophysicist Hubert Reeves who passed away last year.
Nearly 575 events are being organised across France from Friday to Sunday to admire the Perseid shooting stars, swarms of dust from an old comet that the Earth passes through every year during the first half of August.
And this year, a “non-zero probability of seeing polar auroras, in line with the episodes observed at the beginning of May“at unusual latitudes following a historic solar storm,” Olivier Las Vergnas, president of the French Astronomy Association (AFA), said on Thursday.
“It will be worth keeping an eye on“, added the head of the AFA, organizer of the Nights of the Stars, during a press conference.
The AFA expects nearly 200,000 people in local astronomy clubs equipped with observation equipment. But you can also settle for a deckchair in a garden to appreciate the night sky, provided the sky is clear and free of light pollution.
With a small Moon (a very thin crescent), optimizing the perception of the constellations, “we have everything we need“, rejoiced Olivier Las Vergnas.
“With the naked eye, looking south, we can see the nebulous structure of our galaxy.“, he explained, stressing the need to limit light sources as much as possible (telephone, interior and exterior lighting) to accustom the eyes to the darkness.
Mars and Jupiter will be visible from 2 a.m. until 5 a.m.
We will be able to see some of the thousands of Starlink satellites from Elon Musk’s Space X company parading by.It won’t be annoying to the naked eye“, assures Olivier Las Vergnas. He nevertheless emphasizes that these constellations are “a catastrophe for photography and scientific research” because they pollute cutting-edge observations.
This 34th edition is dedicated to understanding the origins of life, in homage to Hubert Reeves, who passed away in October 2023 at the age of 91, and who was one of the founders of Nuits des étoiles.
“We are stardust“, said the French-Canadian astrophysicist to explain the formation of the solar system, of the Earth, and therefore the origins of our existence. He knew how to “to connect the history of the Universe and that of man“, greeted Olivier Las Vergnas.