Le Canigó, une île éphémère en Provence - El Canigó, illa efímera de Provença - Alain Origné

Le Canigó, une île éphémère en Provence - El Canigó, illa efímera de Provença - Alain Origné

(Le Canigó, an ephemeral island in Provence)

Canigó is an island. An island lost in the middle of the Mediterranean. From Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du- Rhône) to Toulon (Var), twice a year and under very specific conditions, it appears on the horizon. Then its silhouette disappears, only to return a few months later. This is the stuff of legends, jokes and other mysteries.

In fact, it's an alignment, at sunset, with the star of the day and Mount Canigó, more than 250 km away from Marseille and the surrounding region. From the same observation site, this alignment occurs twice a year, around February 10 and November 1.
This book describes the observation made today, the one that was first carried out in 1808, and sets out to explain, in language accessible to all, all the astronomical, physical, optical and meteorological aspects that make this observation unique.

Alain Origné, a research engineer at the CNRS in Marseille, covers all the aspects that made this extraordinary observation possible. He discusses astronomy, optics, physics and meteorology, as well as history.

Magnificent photographs give us a glimpse of a little-known Canigó.

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El Canigó és una illa. Una illa perduda al bell mig del Mediterrani. De les Santes-Maries-de-la-Mar (Bouches-du-Rhône) a Toulon (Var), dos cops l’any i en condicions molt concretes, apareix a l’horitzó. Aleshores la seva silueta desapareix per tornar uns mesos després. Suficient per alimentar llegendes, contes i altres misteris.

Alain Origné, enginyer investigador del CNRS de Marsella, aborda tots els aspectes que fan possible aquesta extraordinària observació. Es tractarà d’astronomia, òptica, física i meteorologia però també d’història.

Unes magnífiques fotos ens mostren un Canigó ben poc conegut.

Bilingual French-Catalan. Catalan translation by Rubén Molina

Collection Patrimoine Canigó, editions Trabucaire.

The author:

Alain Origné is an engineer and former research director at the Marseille astrophysics laboratory (CNRS). This lover of the sky, who lives in Six-Fours in Provence, never ceases to turn his attention to the Milky Way, which he photographs with great passion.