The public and free event will take place on Saturday August 6 in the Pierres Blanches car park.
The ASAT organizes the night of the stars on the car park of the Pierres Blanches, on Saturday August 6, a free animation and without reservation. Did you know that the diameter of the sun is 109 times that of the Earth? And that it would take a billion Earths to fill the sun? Thus, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., participants will observe this first star: the sun. They will discover solar flares, called prominences, as well as black spots on its surface. And that, “thanks to a dedicated sunglasses, with special filters, and safe for the eyes”, insists the president of the association, Gilles Santacana.
11 year cycle
The sun, this sphere of gas, a mixture of hydrogen and helium, has consumed half of its hydrogen. It has 4.5 billion years left to live before becoming a white dwarf. “Every 11 years, we observe a peak of activity of the sun, the next will be in 2025. Why an 11-year cycle? We do not yet know how to explain it” he continues.
Fight once morest light pollution
A pet peeve of astronomers, it is omnipresent in cities and impacts the food chain. “It is noted that the extinction of insects due to light pollution has led to the decrease in the number of bats, which eat up to 600 mosquitoes per night”. Thus, in addition to the financial gain it represents for municipalities, the energy savings generated by switching off city lights and store signs will have a positive impact on biodiversity. “Let’s work for a less polluted sky, let’s be wiser in the way we light. A noble cause for man” concludes Gilles Santacana. Information from Gilles Santacana on 06 42 71 22 81. Les Pierres Blanches, Allée Pierre Barthas in Sète
Then, from 9:30 p.m., an open-air conference on the theme of space exploration of the solar system, by men and robots, will be led by a member of the association. The public will then learn that “the visit of the planets is carried out by machines, often 6-wheel drive rovers to take photos and surveys. For example, the Juno probe put into orbit in 2016, studied the internal composition of Jupiter and its wisps of gas. A visit to Mercury is scheduled for 2025, and for Uranus, not before 2030. The missions are scheduled for a fixed duration but continue well beyond sometimes like that of Saturn, for 13 years from 2004 to 2017 “explains Gilles Santacana.
The Thomas Pesquet effect
Finally, from 11 p.m., each telescope made available will be oriented in different directions to allow observation of a quarter moon, Saturn and its rings, and other stars. “This animation from 7 to 77 years old, affects everyone, and captures a wide range: tourists, Sétois, children, seniors. This can guide and educate the youngest in the discovery of the universe. Visitors are happy, they are learning, asking questions. They have been more curious lately, no doubt the ‘Thomas Pesquet effect’ and its images taken from the international station ISS” concludes the astronomer.
