In a rare space-related achievement for Greece, telescopes of the National Observatory of Athens in the Peloponnese are being deployed this summer in an interplanetary laser optical communication experiment, a technology being tested for the first time on European soil, paving the way for the era of the so-called space Internet.
Between July 9 and 12, for the second year in a row, a three-day Summer School of Observational Astrophysics was held in Kryoneri, Corinthia, for graduate and final-year undergraduate students from across Greece. The students were hosted in a local guesthouse, observed the night sky with the 1.2-meter telescope of the Kryoneri Observatory as well as the Sun using a solar telescope and radio antenna, attended lectures, and were trained by Dr. Koulouridis, PhD candidate Ms. Drigga, Dr. Liakos, and Dr. Vardoulaki in techniques of analyzing observational data (optical and radio waves) from the Observatory's researchers. The local community once again warmly supported the School, creating a welcoming and collaborative environment for all. This year's highly successful event followed the first School held in 2023 and confirms that Kryoneri can evolve into a regular meeting point for those who love Astrophysics, with the Observatory at its center.
In the early hours of February 18, 2024 (03:20 AM) a fireball was captured by four different meteor and fireball tracking cameras.
We are pleased to announce the public release of the "Flash Detection Software", which was developed by the National Observatory of Athens for ESA. We invite both amateur or professional astronomers performing planetary observations with video cameras or fast-frame CMOS/CCDs to test it.
The Institute of Astronomy Astrophysics Space Applications & Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens operates Helmos observatory, which was selected as the first Optical Ground Station under the ScyLight framework. Project HOTSPOT (https://artes.esa.int/projects/hotspot) aims to identify all possible activities that can be carried out at Helmos observatory in Greece concerning optical, quantum, and deep space communications.
A poster presentation on the capabilities of the Kryoneri telescope regarding its instrumentation was given at the Europlanet Telescope Network Science Workshop, which took place (virtually) between February 9-11, 2022.
The Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) successfully observed the flyby of asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) with the 1.2m Kryoneri telescope.
We are happy to announce the extension of the NELIOTA project for two years. Starting in August 2021, the project is funded by ESA through the project Consolidating Activities Regarding Moon, Earth and NEOs (CARMEN, contract No. 4000134667/21/D/MRP), coordinated by 6ROADS, until July 2023.
The Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens organizes for the summer months, astronomy evenings at the Kryoneri Observatory in Corinth.
On the evening of April 15th, IAASARS hosted a virtual tour of Kryoneri Observatory, which included live viewing of the Moon through the 1.2 meter telescope, a presentation of the facilities and the lunar monitoring research program NELIOTA.
