The 34th edition of France’s Nuits des étoiles (Nights of Stars) is set to take place this weekend, with events planned up and down the country to encourage stargazers to head outside and look up.
The event (which is actually a collection of events over several days) has been organised by the Association française d’astronomie (AFA) since 1991, and will this year take place from August 9 to 11.
Amateur astronomers and scientific experts will help to host more than 500 events over the three days, which will take place at hundreds of observation sites. The majority of the events are free to attend.
They include lectures; observations of the Sun, Milky Way, and the night sky; exhibitions; and workshops on everything from the stars, to planets, and the origins of the Universe.
This year, the central theme is dedicated to the French-Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, who passed away in October 2023 in Paris, aged 91. He is known for making astrophysics more accessible to more people.
The Connexion interviewed Mr Reeves in 2018, and we recently republished the interview, which you can read below.
In the interview, the scientist spoke about the importance of teaching science to the younger generations, as well as his beliefs on climate change.
In Paris, the Nuits des étoiles will continue until September, with a series of observation evenings in the capital's parks and gardens.
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Nuits des étoiles events are taking place across France (a screenshot of the interactive map)Afastronomie.fr/
The full list of events can be seen at the AFA website, with an interactive map on which you can zoom in to check events near you (in the screenshot above). As you can see, there are events taking place throughout the country, so it is very likely that there is one near you.
