 Autumn 2006
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"Les
Granges" is the name of a farmhouse in the old small village Etoile St.
Cyrice on the border of Provence-Alpes-Cote D'Azur
and Rhône-Alpes run by amateur astronomer Olliver Penrice. At an
altitude of 900 meters above sea level and 300 sunny days a year, It's
a perfect place to pursue astronomy in southern France. The village
inhabits only about 10 people and is situated at the end of the D130A
that loops through the village. It went to visit Olly together with
three friends during the first week of autumn in 2006.
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On the day of arrival,
September 23th, skies where cloudy and misty. Not much of a problem
considering I just sat in the car for 12 hours straight to get there.
The last thing I was thinking about was setting up my telescope. The
next day it even rained once in a while. Nevertheless, we put on our
hiking shoes for a long walk and after that, enjoyed a warm bath.
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Every morning the
sheep were led from the village to the fields down the valley by the
shepherd. It was a lovely sight. This area in France is famous for its
lavender. You can see lavender fields in the background at the image
above. Unfortunately this year's harvest was ruined, probably due to
the cold winter and dry spring.
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We set up a wind
shield not only to protect us against the wind, but also for shielding
the city lamps in the village.
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Whether you like to
walk, draw or just want to rest, you're in the right place at Les
Granges. There's a large kitchen for preparing diner. Olly has made
several plateaus for setting up your own equipment. But you can also
use
his 20 inch Dobson or 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. The Dobson showed an
impressive view of the veil nebula that resembled a cloud of smoke from
a cigarette.
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The difference between
men and boys is the size of their toys...
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| Winter 2009 |
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In
January 2009 it was the fourth
time for me to visit Olly at this beautiful (and dark!) place on earth.
Though as my previous visits were in summer, this was the first time to
enjoy the lovely winter scenery.
The constellation of interest in the winter is, of course, Orion. My
goal was to make a 4 frame mosaic of the Horsehead and Orion Nebula and
I think I have succeeded in doing so. As I was treated with 3 very
clear nights and 2 that weren't optimal, but okay, I managed to take
several long exposure images of different objects. The last evening was
hazy, but as a bonus, I have exposed the Rosetta Nebula in H-alpha and
I came out pretty nice. Please visit the CCD gallery.
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| To get to
Etoile St. Cyrice, I have to drive 1125 km to the south (from
latitude 52º N to 44º N). The last 100 to 200 km are through
the mountains. It gives you splendid views on the Alpes in the
distance. Below are several winter images of Etoile and the
nearby village Orpierre. |
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