From August 11 to 13, 2023, the 33rd edition of the Nuits des étoiles will be held, organized by the Association Française d’Astronomie. Nearly 500 events are organized on the territory by astronomy clubs, planetariums, associations, tourist offices, or town halls to allow you to look at the stars and observe the planets, with or without equipment. This year’s theme is “celestial dust“.
August is the ideal time, “summer and the mild night temperatures encourage you to watch“, explains the association. The spectacle of stars and planets is “free, accessible to all and requires no prior knowledge. Only curiosity is the key to it.“Discover the map of events near you here .
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The Perseids: showers of shooting stars
“This year we have a moonless skywhich makes it possible to better observe the other stars, because the moon creates a light which can mask the other stars or the two planets of the sky“, confides Clément Plantureux, member of the French Association of Astronomy and co-organizer of the Nights of the Stars. The Nights of the Stars take place during the peak of the Perseids, a shower of shooting stars. “During these three nights, we will be able to observe dozens, even a few hundred shooting stars every hour. They can be observed without an instrument, with the naked eye. You just need to have a little patience and observe the sky without light pollution.“
Sebastian Voltmer
Observing Saturn and Jupiter
Two planets will be visible. On the one hand Saturn, which will be visible throughout the night. “To the naked eye, Saturn looks like some kind of star that doesn’t twinkle, it’s a fixed light. If we use a small instrument, we will be able to discern the famous rings of saturn“, develops Clément Busty.
There is another visible planet, it is Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. “Jupiter will be very bright in the sky, it is also one of the brightest stars that we will be able to see during Star Nights“, adds Clément Busty. When we observe it through a small measuring instrument, such as an astronomical telescope or a small telescope, we can discern “the different color bands of the atmosphere and the bigger ones satellites of Jupiterwhich will take on the appearance of very small stars around the disk of Jupiter“.
Under what conditions can we observe stars and planets?
“Shooting stars can be seen without any instrument. The planets can be observed even in the heart of Paris. Light pollution only slightly affects observations of planets like Jupiter and Saturn“, emphasizes Clément Busty. With the naked eye, we cannot observe the rings of Saturn or the satellites of Jupiter, but with a small instrument, a small astronomical telescope for example, we will be able to discern them. “There is no need to have an instrument that is too imposing or too sophisticated to observe these elements, as they are stars that are quite close to the Earth.“But for the Nights of the Stars, there will be more than 500 events organized during this weekend, and the amateur astronomers and the animators will provide telescopes and astronomical glasses for the general public.
“The best way to observe the sky is obviously to be as far as possible from city lights, to turn off the light if you are on the balcony or in your garden, and once you have turned everything off , the eye takes about ten minutes to get used to the dark. So don’t look at your cell phone.“, recalls Clément Busty.
What weather for Star Nights?
The night from Friday to Saturday will not be optimal for stargazing in the northwestern quarter of the country, with rain and even thunderstorms. Saturday and Sunday nights will be more conducive to space observation, with only a few cloudy periods over the territory.
Arnaud Le Vu