Night of 2016 Stars: “Watching the sky is good for everyone!” – The Express

binoculars, telescopes or glasses! The 26th Night of Stars begins this Friday night until Sunday.

At this time of the year, the Earth’s atmosphere in contact with the Perseids, a meteor swarm consisting of debris of an ancient planet, Swift Tuttle. This is what creates “meteor rain” that come watch enthusiasts in the dark, says Science and Future .

Last year, over 115 000 participants had answered present. The AFA, the French Astronomical Association organized this year 430 events in over 331 municipalities. 2500 volunteers are deployed throughout the country for free workshops and lectures on various astronomical topics. 2016 This edition is dedicated to astrophysicist André Brahic, discoverer of Saturn’s rings, died this year.

A year under the “water sign”

This edition 2016 is placed under the sign of water, a way to inform the public its fundamental place in the solar system. “We also wanted to publicize scientific discoveries around the water made by Philae or the New Horizons probe,” said L’Express astronomer Olivier Las Vergnas, a creator of the Night of the Stars, now President of the AFA. This edition also will feature several upcoming projects, such as the ExoMars probe scheduled for 2020 or mission Juno around Jupiter.

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury visible to the “naked eye”

Another feature this year, the planets Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury, will be visible to the naked eye and from the same location.

“It has not been seen for ten years yet commented Olivier The Vergnas, we can contemplate these planets in the same ‘heaven quarter’. This helps to understand that they are aligned, although this is not always noticeable. ” The good weather should increase the phenomenon.

“Watching the sky is good for everyone”

An edition that promises to be exceptional so even if the organization was sometimes difficult the context of the attacks and the decline in state subsidies. Several gatherings were canceled in Marseille, Antibes and La Villette in Paris, but the key is kept.

A victory for Olivier Las Vergnas. “In these times, we still have more need than usual to watch the stars! It is a moment of scientific initiation. But also a spiritual time-sharing, which opens on deep discussion and allowing stand back. Watching the sky is good for everyone! ”