On 23 September, for the third year running, CERN joined Greater Geneva in turning off its public lighting as part of the La nuit est belle! initiative.

Friday night’s cloudy skies forced the CERN astronomy club to cancel the event it had planned to mark La nuit est belle au CERN. However, CERN still played its part in the initiative by switching off the lights of the Globe, the Esplanade des Particules, Gates A, B, C and E and the roads and carparks of the Meyrin, Prévessin, LHC and SPS sites. The lights remained switched off throughout the evening and night.  

The aim of La nuit est belle! is to educate the public about the impact of light pollution caused by excessive artificial lighting. 187 of Greater Geneva’s 209 communes took part in this third edition of the event, which was on the theme of energy saving. Residents, shopkeepers and companies followed suit.