© Joseph Mordelet
THE ASTRONOMY AND MUSIC EVENING
What is it about ?
It’s about an evening of observation and discovery of the night sky and remarkable objects it contains for an audience of at least ten people, using large diameter telescopes, enriched by the contribution of musical compositions and improvisations with multiple inspirations, ranging from ambient, Celtic, trip hop, world or ethereal, all in a place surrounded by nature, away from light pollution.
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We generally unfold each evening in two parts : we start first with a projection of astrophotographs and videos of time lapses of night skies in the form of a "conference", punctuated by musical performances sometimes rhythmic sometimes hovering, depending on the present atmosphere.
Thereafter, we continue the rest of the evening at the telescope with the astronomical observation of the night sky, always accompanied by the music of Tiphaine Sonn played live.
Understanding the sky in pictures
We will begin the performance at dusk with projection on TV screen (if available on site) or on screen and video projector (which we bring) of photographs and time lapses of our work related to astronomy, sky and nature (you can get an idea of the type of images used by browsing our gallery).
This first part will be accompanied by explanations on astronomy in a "conference" type. It will be interspersed with improvised musical interludes with projection of time lapses and will last until the arrival of complete night.
Joseph, astronomer, can of course answer all your questions and will be able to adapt to the level of knowledge of each one.
© Joseph Mordelet
Astronomical observation…
Once the night is well settled, we will start with a small discovery of the constellations of the Milky Way, using a pointer laser, then we will get to the telescope observation of various celestial objects :
• Nebulae • Galaxies • Planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and its rings • Globular clusters • Planetary Nebulae • Supernovae remnants • The Moon (if it is present which is not recommended for a very dark night) • The Sun (before nightfall).
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All the photographs above
were made by Joseph Mordelet.
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While each person present will be observing through the telescope in turn, Joseph will of course give explanations specific to each observed object and Tiphaine will take us even further with her music. The observation will last as long as there are still motivated people to observe, there is no time limit, and the "spectators" all participate.
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The main instruments at our disposal are : two large diameter telescopes, one 600 mm and one 500 mm ; we also have a robotic telescope smaller in size that allows us to capture and share real-time images with you during the evening ; so you can come back with some souvenir images of your observations. We also have several binoculars, including giant binoculars which will be at your disposal during the evening, as well as a solar telescope (if it is possible to observe the sun at the end of the day).
Joseph will of course take care of the manipulation of the instruments to be able to make you discover the most beautiful objects of the sky which will be accompanied by as many explanations as you wish.
…In music ?
The musical part is always different. Tiphaine Sonn, singer and musician will always take us further on this journey and this discovery of the celestial vault, thanks to its uncommon voice and her improvisations or her original compositions always in tune with the present atmosphere.
For this accompaniment, she uses a piano, a device dedicated to electronic music production, but above all a loop station allowing the creation of vocal harmonies and loops ; and a theremin, a surprising musical instrument if there ever was one, and which — we are sure — you will enjoy try for yourselves.
© Jean-Marc Lecleire
You can listen to other songs by Tiphaine Sonn on the Discography page.
« Carried away by the music ; this simple sentence is the one that surely best describes what I felt the first time that, somewhat by chance, I asked Tiphaine Sonn to improvise while I was observing through the telescope. Tiphaine has a rare voice. She has a wide vocal range of four octaves and above all, she has the particularity of having a musical universe of her own. » Joseph Mordelet
Tiphaine particularly takes pleasure in improvisation. Fascinated by the deep sky, as much as Joseph, she is inspired by the atmosphere of the present moment, landscape and night sky to build her tracks by piling up melodies, rhythms, vocal harmonies in turn until gradually obtaining a more complex whole. It's in the electronic music that she then found the tools to create her music, describing her style as ethereal. Enya, Björk, Igor Stravinsky, Cocteau Twins, Archive, JFDR, Hania Rani, Kraftwerk, Tool, Sainkho Namtchylak, Heilung, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Pink Floyd, traditional Celtic, Bulgarian and Nordic music are among her sources of inspiration.
Our equipment and logistics
For astronomy
© Joseph Mordelet
• A 600 mm diameter Newtonian telescope, open to f3.3
• A 509 mm diameter Newtonian telescope, open to f4
• A 150 mm diameter robotic telescope open to f3.5
• A H-alpha Sun telescope
• A pair of giant astronomy binoculars
• At least one astro camera
â–¶ We use at least one telescope larger than 500 millimeters in diameter plus for a number more than 30 people present.
For the introduction before nightfall
For the music
© Joseph Mordelet
• A set of original astrophotographs
• Original time lapse videos of night landscapes
• A video projector
• A screen for video projection
• A microphone and a loop-station for vocals
• A piano and a MIDI keyboard
• A standalone sequencer for music production
• A theremin (which the public can try during the evening,
during the observation time at the telescope)
At the logistics level
© Joseph Mordelet
We have a total independence. The equipment we have allows us to animate and sound a performance for 30 or even 50 people (with exceptions : chairs for the public if necessary). The ideal number of people for each service being between 15 and 30 in relation to the observation time available for each person.
Our logistics adapt very well to cottages, mountain restaurants, campsites, hotel terraces, private areas.
Finally we necessarily need a flat outdoor space (especially not on a slope) and well clear at sky level (no trees, buildings or vertical elements hindering astronomical observation).
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Several important information to consider
1 Full Moon
We never schedule performances on full Moon nights !
The high luminosity of the full Moon makes almost unusable astronomical observation. We favor the evenings of new Moon or first/last quarter.
Click here to consult the moon calendar of this year.
2 Weather forecasts
WEATHER FORECAST :
https://www.meteoblue.com/fr/meteo/semaine/
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ASTRONOMICAL SEEING FORECAST :
https://www.meteoblue.com/fr/meteo/outdoorsports/seeing/
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MAP OF LIGHTNING IMPACTS IN REAL TIME :
Astronomical observation requires a perfect weather to be able to observe in the best conditions.
A single cloud cover can seriously interfere with observation ! This is why we strongly invite you, before you come to consult the weather links above, by specifying the geolocation on the place of our activity.
We are thus likely to offer you a postponement of the activity in the event of unfavorable weather.
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Also, whether you come hiking or by car, it is important that you provide various essential elements in order to enjoy your activity in the best conditions :
• Warm clothes (sweater, down jacket, scarf, hat, gloves, closed shoes) ; astronomical observation being an outdoor activity and taking place as much as possible in high altitude sites, it can be cold, even in summer.
• Some water or something to drink and possibly something to have a picnic before the evening, if you wish.
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We also strongly advise you to equip yourself with a flash light or a headlamp, our activity taking place in complete darkness !
Why do astronomy
today ?
© Joseph Mordelet
Since the dawn of time, men have used the stars to find their bearings and move across lands, seas and deserts ; they also used the stars to measure time, to determine when to plant or harvest. From this practical curiosity were born the sciences ; astronomy is what interests us here.
At a time — ours — where astrophysicists and professional researchers are equipped with ever larger, more powerful, more efficient terrestrial or space observatories, it is legitimate to ask this question, why do astronomy and observe the sky at the present time ?
What the observation of astronomical objects located at distances that any human struggles to imagine brings us is that seeing this light which sometimes takes millions of years to reach our retina and observing it with our own eyes immerses us and takes us beyond our daily terrestrial reality. It also brings us back to this evidence that we perceive and yet never think about : we are in space, the Earth is our vessel, we travel with it through the universe.
This, unfortunately, is difficult to take into account, even looking at the incredible images provided by the world’s largest observatories, as well as space telescopes.
Observing with one’s eye through a telescope is physically immersing in this universe that surrounds us and in which we nevertheless bathe daily. Only visual observation provides this infinite reconnection.
It is still becoming a little more aware of the myriads of stars that make up our universe, it is to project oneself beyond the limits of our planet and to measure the infinitesimal place which is ours.