General confinement, day 4… Parisians re (discover) the stars

• Are the stars more visible at the moment in Paris due to a significant drop in atmospheric and visual pollution? Yes, but on the sidelines, answers Jean-Luc Dauvergne, head of section in the magazine "Ciel et Espace", published by the Association Française d'Astronomie.
• "The main reason is that people piss off, so they take the time to look up and rediscover the stars," he notes.
• And that's good, there are currently some nice observations to make.

"There are stars in the sky, right? " If you have not yet said this sentence, you are missing your confinement. Because after having re (discovered) on day 2 the song of the birds and on day 3, the window cleaning (and an old Pepito cake under the sofa), place in the sky and on the horizon, infinitely great since our infinitely small apartments. On Twitter, many Internet users indeed report a particularly starry sky at the moment in Paris. Hallucination, optical effect or real consequence of the general confinement decreed because of the epidemic of coronavirus which shakes France? To find out more, 20 Minutes called Jean-Luc Dauvergne, section head at Ciel et Espace magazine, published by the Association Française d'Astronomie (AFA).

Tonight we can see stars in the Parisian sky.

Is it me who never looked up or you can see the stars better in Paris?

A sky not quite optimal

Are the stars more visible at the moment in Paris due to a significant drop in atmospheric and visual pollution? Yes, but at the margin, replies the specialist. "Light pollution has decreased a little, but air pollution has not dropped particularly," he explains. Even if road traffic in Ile-de-France is greatly reduced at the moment, air quality was indeed described as "poor" this Wednesday by Airparif, the organization that assesses air quality in Ile-de-France. In question: a weak wind, the heating of individuals or even agricultural activity. As a result, the sky is not especially - at the moment - optimal for stargazing.

And we see the stars in the Parisian sky tonight ... pic.twitter.com/46Rw32lvsB

“There is however no longer any condensation trail of planes in the sky, which makes it clear. It is unusual to see such a blue sky, "says the specialist, who notes however that two days ago, March 18, Paris had a beautiful starry night. "It's day to day," says Jean-Luc Dauvergne, pointing to another reason for this supposedly better observation of the stars.

"The main reason is that people piss off"

"The main reason is that people piss off, so they take the time to look up and rediscover the stars," laughs Jean-Luc Dauvergne. Even if Paris is not already spoiled in this matter. With the light pollution that emerges on a daily basis from the capital and reduces the contrast of the sky, Eric Piednoël, deputy director general of the AFA estimated some time ago with 20 Minutes , that 40 stars are visible to the naked eye in Paris.

This confinement in Paris would be much more pleasant if we could take advantage of the stars. Since nobody is supposed to be on the streets (and the homeless should not be forgotten), why not turn off the city lights? ✨🌝

Which is a shy start when you know that a human being can count up to more than 3,000 stars in a sky devoid of any pollution. And that the Milky Way contains between 200 and 400 billion. "The sky of Paris is rotten but we must not exaggerate," says Jean-Luc Dauvergne. But then, what can we see right now by staying in our only window? "There are great observations to make," he promises.

Orion, Betelgeuse, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn

According to the specialist, Venus is clearly visible at the moment in the early evening, especially for people who have windows that face west. There is also the constellation of Orion to admire. "It forms a quadrilateral with very bright stars," explains Jean-Luc Dauvergne. Especially Betélgeuse - "the giant's armpit" in Arabic - a red star, said to be close to the explosion, recalls Ouest-France . "It is going up in luminosity and it will even become more and more luminous", comments Jean-Luc Dauvergne, who even recommends to isolate oneself for example in a building courtyard to enjoy the sky. He estimates that we can currently reach the observation of a hundred stars. Note that in the morning, at dawn, you can also look at Jupiter towards the southeast. Below, Mars. And a little more to the left Saturn, if we have a sufficiently clear horizon.

Finally, confinement allows at least to take the time to look at them and admire them. "The rest of the time, those who are not attentive, almost forget that the moon and the stars exist," he says before shifting: "And it's always better to watch the stars than TV". Especially if the sky soon serves as a giant advertising screen, as some would like.

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