Midnight has passed at the Refuge des Cosmiques (3613m) in the Mont-Blanc massif, where the Grandes Jorasses and the Dent du Géant can be seen from the terrace of the Refuge. The planet Jupiter, accompanied by the star Spica, in the constellation of the Virgin, reigns over the right of the image. The brilliant star Vega, which rises above the Refuge, offers up its characteristic blue color, sign of a surface temperature that can attain 20,000°. After three hours of sleep, I return in the silence of the night. It is 5:00 am and the Milky Way has taken its place on the eastern horizon. Marvelously detailed, it forms a majestic arch, one of whose legs balances on top of the Mont-Blanc du Tacul, the hydrogen of which it is composed giving it a characteristic pink color.
By positioning myself lower down on the glacier, below the Refuge, I am able to find the couple of Jupiter and Spica, located over the Dôme du Goûter (4304m). The groups of mountain climbers who left from the Refuge des Grands Mulets (on the rocky spur at the bottom right of the image) embark on the ascent of the Mont-Blanc.