Behind Cedar Trees, lies an epic story of resilience and resistance, dating back to biblical times when dense forests covered this land. They are stargazers by nature - always looking up.

On the 3rd of August 2019, we joined them to the party just to make an unforgettable night at the heart of the Cedars forest of Barouk. Behold ‘La Nuit des Etoiles’, with its first edition in Lebanon.

A Perseid bolide declared the start of the show, nothing would have been more welcoming. As 300 enthusiasts gathered to celebrate astronomy, our event stretched from the day to night with a vast array of activities. They ranged from solar observation, to kids’ science activities, astronomy talks, astrophotography and nocturnal observation through telescopes.

We would like to thank all the attendees who came from all over Lebanon to see this show – we hope you enjoyed it. Tag along in future event!

The Who:

Before letting pictures talk of themselves, this event wouldn't have succeeded without the great team-effort of all the organizing groups: from the Lebanese Adventure, to Lebanese Astrophotographers, and UniversCiel (part of La Ferme des Etoiles group), and the extraordinary collaboration with Cedars of Shouf Biosphere Reserve who were happy hosting us on that day.

Special thanks to:

Wissam Moussa (from Skytours Lebanon) for his session showing us around the night sky.

Michel Ata (from Stargazing in Lebanon) for his “Trip Around the Cosmos” talk (a very interactive talk).

Mazen Aoun (instagram) who took care of the Live Stacking session, by visualizing deep sky objects being captured live on on a big screen connected to a telescope. 

The Why:

Our goal was to celebrate astronomy and show everyone that it can be practiced with real experiments. Most of us live in cities, forgot the wonders of the night sky and what they can deliver, from peace-of-mind to tangible experimentation, far-far away from Light Pollution and city noise.

Star Trails by Marya Sadek @maryasadek

The What:

Daylight Solar observation with a specialized H-alpha telescope with Karl Abou Jaoudeh

/!\ WARNING: Never look at the sun though a telescope that’s not specially equipped for this purpose.

Kids activities: Lead by Marc Aou Zeid and Marie-Joe Chahine Water Rocket (Video by Samer Rabah @samerabah)

 

The Where:

Darkness increases our experience to enjoy the night sky, and so it happened. Light Pollution, notoriously known as Astronomers’ worst enemy, has been increasing in Lebanon, nibbling our Dark Skies leading them into extinction. As Light Pollution affects the environment, humans, wildlife and trees, our event had to be ecologically friendly, and so we landed on the Cedars of Barouk as our location. That spot is one of the darkest in the area, we were surrounded by mountains shielding us from surrounding stray lights. For better light usage and to know more about bad-lighting side effects, check out the International Dark Sky Association website.

The When:

This event was part of the yearly global “La Nuit des Etoiles” that happened in 300 sites at the exact same time. Initiated in 1991 by Huber Reeves, father of “Festival d’Astronomie de Fleurance”, who on their behalf, were happy with this event expanding to Lebanon following the great success in France and Mexico.

Crescent moonset by Bernard Sadaka @bernardsadaka

Messages from organizers and hosts (with alphabetic disorder):

Rita Najm: “La Nuit des Etoiles” has successfully grouped all members of the astro-community in a single night and beautiful location, in a common passion for astronomy and astrophotography.

Nizar Hani: We at Shouf Biosphere Reserve would love to have more activities form this type, in the end, Astronomy and Ecotourism work hand in hand and share common concerns.

Serge Soueid:I began organizing astro-events in 2004, I was an amateur. I continue organizing astro-events in 2019, and still an amateur but with a huge difference: I am blessed to be part of an amazing team with amazing people with a beautiful synergy. A dream come true.

Jean-Pierre Saghbini: I am happy and proud to see a great team effort that led Lebanon to be on the map of this international event. "La Nuit des Étoiles" is also an opportunity to remember that we all share the same sky and a moment to be aware of the importance of the universe history. After all aren't we all made of stardust?

Candice Saghbini: La Nuit des Étoiles at Shouf Biosphere Reserve was a moment of pure joy and sharing! Sharing a common passion, sharing experiences, sharing know-how... but also building great memories and bonds!

Karl Abou Jaoude: A big thank you to everyone who made this event possible. The enthusiasm generated across all ages brings hope to spread this culture and the astronomy and astrophotography community to grow.

Marie-Joe Chahine: An event like never seen in Lebanon before, uniting members of the astronomy community together to show us the marvels of our night sky under our beautiful Cedars. We are proud to see collaborations such as this in our country.

Marc Bou Zeid: The story of the universe is our story. Everyone has the right to know this and to contemplate the night sky. Sharing the universe with people was our main concern in this event and the best reward is the look in everyone's eyes shining like all the stars!

Maroun Habib: This was the result of a great synnergy between a dream hard working team in a dream location. The enthusiasm generated across all age ranges shows that people are really interested in astronomy and astrophotography. Proud to be part of it and looking forward for larger events.

Long text? Congratulations for reaching here, we are almost done, below are the upcoming events, but before that, please enjoy this photo from Rita taken during the same night:

MilkyWay Sagittarius Arm, by Rita Najm @ritanajm

So what’s next?

Lebanese Adventure : La Nuit des Etoiles Filantes, an eco-friendly and family-friendly camping to observe the perseids meteor shower followed by day activities in the Tannourine Cedars Resere - 10/08/2019

Cedars of Shouf: Darb el Qamar: A hike under the full moon - 16/08/2019

UniversCiel: 6th edition of "Festival d'Astronomie de Fleurance au Liban" between the 7th and 10th of May 2020. More on their Facebook Page

Lebanese Astrophotographers: Drop by their group Lebanese Astrophotographers if you want to learn more about astrophotography

See you in future events, until then, light responsibly.