The eclipse driving astronomical spending madness

The eclipse that turns everyone into an armchair astronomer

Every few years, the sky puts on a spectacle that triggers collective madness: a total solar eclipse. People who never look up from their phones suddenly become astronomy experts, willing to travel 200 kilometres and pay over 200 euros for a night in a hotel just to watch the moon cover the sun for little more than a minute. The paradox is telling: the same people who cannot tell Orion from the Big Dipper fight over certified glasses and applaud when darkness falls.

The paradox of those who never look at the sky

The phenomenon is not new, but social media has amplified it to absurd levels. Critics point out that much of the frenzy comes down to the obligation to post the obligatory photo wearing the glasses with the caption "here, watching the eclipse". The influencer of the moment leads the way; the flocks trinc. Some argue that interest in the cosmos is genuine, until they discover that this same crowd has never looked at the sky on a summer night at their country house. The conclusion is uncomfortable: the eclipse is not watched, it is consumed.

Astronomical phenomenon or consumer product

Science, meanwhile, takes a back seat. Observatories fill with onlookers who applaud when the moon hides the sun and, two minutes later, go back to their usual habit: the phone. The maths does not add up either: 200 euros for 90 seconds of twilight. And yet hotel bookings are soaring. No one has yet explained why you need to travel 200 kilometres to see in person what a live stream shows in high definition. Perhaps that is precisely what is supposed to make it interesting: not the eclipse, but the excuse to feel part of something.