In this scorching weekend, the program will be busy for lovers of the stars and lovers of discovery. The new edition of "Nuits des étoiles" will take place this weekend, in special sanitary conditions due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The planet Mars, the search for life in the Universe and the protection of the night sky will take center stage.
"The weekend may be very hot but for astronomers the nights will be perfect", enthuses Michel Viso, head of exobiology at the French space agency (CNES), partner of the event. On the menu: to start on August 7, 8 and 9, some 266 free events will be offered at various observation sites (the full program can be found here).
🌟 Star nights 2020 start tomorrow! 🌟
To participate in the 30th edition of this free national astronomy festival, see our full article here 👉 https://t.co/lXKWXuDwJq
(Don't forget your 😷) pic.twitter.com/jQQGfgHS1f
Mars, brighter than ever
Small novelty for this 30th edition: “to alleviate the social and physical restrictions imposed during the current health crisis, the French Astronomical Association is offering to extend the Nuits des étoiles in a more intimate setting, at home, with family or friends. , during the two weeks following this weekend ”. The “star vigils” (with audios, videos, observation programs) can be downloaded free of charge from the AFA website.
On the program of the first, the green ray at sunset, Jupiter from 9:30 p.m., then Saturn. Between the two, the search for Antares or Cassiopeia. And as a final bouquet, Mars which will rise in the East at the stroke of midnight. This year, the red planet will be particularly close to Earth (and therefore brighter). It will be closer - 63 million kilometers - in October. The two planets thus intersect every 26 months. But this time, sky lovers are fortunate that it happens in summer, the time when the weather is most conducive to observation and the red planet is high on the horizon.
The Perseids, always at the rendezvous
With a little patience, amateur astronomers will be able to guess "darker and smaller spots" on the surface of the planet. “Even with a small telescope, we can recognize large regions and one of its polar caps, like a white point,” explains the AFA in the vigil program. And to put the odds in your favor, specialists recommend avoiding the city lights, favoring the sea and the mountains and being patient (it takes at least 10 minutes for the vision to get used to the weather. 'darkness).
And if you miss this appointment, don't worry. Another show is expected to unfold before our eyes until mid-August. The Perseids, the traditional rain of shooting stars in August, will light up the sky from August 10 to 15. Every year, between mid-July and mid-August, small particles of comet Swift-Tuttle cross Earth's orbit. When entering our world, small cometary debris knock into molecules in the atmosphere. This shock, extremely violent, produces light. Each debris then turns into a "shooting star". This year, the show is expected to be at its peak on the night of August 12-13. "But already, from August 7, the conditions will be ideal", notes the AFA.
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