France opened the 36th edition of its Night of the Stars on Friday, August 7, launching three evenings of public astronomy ahead of the August 12 solar eclipse. The French Astronomy Association, which coordinates the program, says nearly 500 events will run through Sunday at clubs, observatories, planetariums and community sites across the country, with the Sun serving as this year's central theme.
The association describes the 2026 program as a national countdown to an eclipse that will be partial across France and total along a narrow path farther north and west. Le Monde reported on Friday that the initiative, created in 1991, brings volunteer astronomers together with newcomers and experienced skywatchers at largely accessible local gatherings. Organizers intend the weekend to explain both the science of the Sun and safe observation.
NASA's eclipse map shows the Moon's central shadow crossing northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Spain and a small corner of Portugal on August 12. Totality will last less than two minutes for most places inside that path and less than two and a half minutes even near its center. France lies outside the path of totality, but the obscuration will be deep in parts of the country; Le Monde says up to 99.4 percent of the solar disk will be covered as seen from Biarritz in the southwest.
NASA stresses that viewers must use certified eclipse glasses, handheld solar viewers or indirect projection during every partial phase. Ordinary sunglasses are not sufficient. Direct viewing without protection is safe only during the brief interval of totality for observers inside the total-eclipse path; because France will see a partial eclipse, eye protection is required there throughout the event.
The weekend also directs attention to the changing conditions for astronomical research. An ESO study released in July found that proposals for more than 1.7 million satellites, including very bright spacecraft, could have severe effects on professional observations. The study estimated that preserving modern telescope access to the night sky would require keeping the population below roughly 100,000 faint satellites, while individual trails can contaminate images even when spacecraft are invisible to unaided eyes.
Events continue through August 9, while some associated activities extend later in the month. The immediate next milestone is August 12, when eclipse observers across Europe, the North Atlantic and parts of North America and Africa will follow the Moon's shadow. Organizers are using the five-day interval to turn a rare sky event into a practical lesson in solar physics, observation safety and protection of the night sky.
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