Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur - Site du plateau de Calern
C.E.R.G.A. (Centre d'Études et de Recherches Géodynamiques et Astronomiques). In a marvellous hill-country setting up above Grasse, its observation instruments include an interferometer unique throughout the world.Guided tour every Sunday at 3.30 p.m.
In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the Plateau de Calern housed instruments that were forerunners in their field, including laser rang finding (photo) and interferometry. The Schmidt telescope for imaging wide fields of view with limited aberrations was also intensely utilized until the early 2000s. Today, the scientific life of the Plateau continues with projects that make the most of experience gained and the special relationship between astronomy and geophysics, including laser range finding, time transfer, and space geodesy.
Earth sciences and astronomy rely heavily on observations which aim to monitor, understand and model the natural objects and phenomena with which these fields are concerned. Due to the truly essential nature of observation for research in the Earth sciences and astronomy, the Côte d’Azur Observatory is seeking to have its Calern site acknowledged as an “accredited observation site” by the CNRS National Institute of Earth Sciences and Astronomy (INSU).
OCA wishes to stress the importance of observational techniques developed in the past on the Plateau de Calern, particularly interferometry, and to share the observation techniques that are being developed today and which legitimate recognition of the Calern site as an INSU-CNRS-accredited observation site.
Photo gallery
Opening
All year round daily between 8 am and 4 pm.
Session duration : 2h
Rates
Free entry for children under 6.
Discover also
Village de Caussols
Caussols tutoie les étoiles en plongeant son regard dans la mer, depuis le plateau karstique de Calern, site de l’Observatoire astronomique de la Côte d’Azur et avec le sommet du Haut-Montet, visible depuis le littoral avec le radar de l’aviation civile.
Plateaux karstiques des Préalpes d'Azur
Depuis le littoral, en regardant au nord derrière l’amphithéâtre de collines, les barres rocheuses des plateaux se dessinent : à l’ouest, les plateaux de Calern et de Caussols, au milieu le plateau de Cavillore, à l’est le plateau de Saint-Barnabé.