The Milky Way looms over the Greek National Amateur Astronomers Gathering. All images by Panagiotis Katsichtis.
Our good friend Panagiotis Katsichtis is an avid amateur astronomer who lives in Spárti, Lakonia, Greece. He recently contacted me with news of a great meeting that was held at Mount Parnon in southeastern Greece. Let me allow Panagiotis to take it away with a great guest blog:
The 6th National Amateur Astronomers Gathering took place July 20–23 in Mount Parnon, Greece.
In one of the darkest observing sites in Europe at an altitude of 4,660 feet (1,420 meters), a record of 625 amateur astronomers had the chance to participate in what came to be the largest star party ever to take place in Greece.
Young Greek enthusiasts showed up to observe and talk astronomy.
The co-organizers, the Astronomical Union of Sparta and Astronomical Society of Patras, had prepared a schedule that included four workshops. New amateur astronomers were introduced to observing equipment while more advanced were introduced to astrophotography, both planetary and deep sky. Saturday morning was dedicated to solar observing and a lecture about the Sun while the final workshop was about computers and astronomy and mostly satellite prediction and observing.
Professor Manos Danezis gave the main lecture about the latest cosmological findings on Saturday.
Before observing began each night, green laser guides to stars and constellations, their myths, and physical properties were offered as the twilight began to fade. We Greeks call it Ouranografia.
Astronomical observing began after 10 p.m. with hundreds of telescopes pointed to the night sky.
Some of the kids at the event enjoy setting off a water rocket.
Besides main astronomical activities, mountain hiking and lectures on the fauna and flora of Mount Parnon and the Peloponnese were part of the schedule in an attempt to inform participants of the important natural heritage of the site whose modern version is an important dark site for amateur astronomy in Greece. Children also had the opportunity to participate in astronomy-oriented activities, such as painting objects of the night sky, a water rocket launch, and so on. In all, 45 children attended the classes.
A spherical sundial was also revealed during the gathering, courtesy of the Astronomical Union of Sparta. The sundial was a joint effort of many club members and now stands on a rock pedestal besides the refuge of the Sparta Alpine Club.
It must be noted that the two organizing astronomy clubs offered this event free of charge to all 625 participants, including free dinners and free memorabilia, funded only by T-shirt sales and a few sponsors. This gave the opportunity to hundreds of people to enjoy the night sky in rather difficult times.
Professor Manos Danezis describes cosmological findings for the crowd.
Videos of the event
can be found here.
Many thanks, Panagiotis, for that superb report!