Amateur Astronomers

What is Asea’s connection to astrophysics and astronomy? There isn’t one – at least not until a group of youngsters spending their summers in their ancestral village started meeting up to watch the starry sky. “You can’t see the stars in Athens, so, as kids, we’d go to the park or the school courtyard at night,” says Anastasiou, who studied physics and now works as a teacher. “There could be as many as 40 of us in August. That was our very first association with the starry night sky, and I wanted to be an astrophysicist ever since.” Dimopoulos bought a small telescope when he attended university that he would bring to Asea in the summer, setting it up in the schoolyard so he and his friends could get a closer look at the night sky.

“Some things just happen randomly, from a string of happy coincidences. This specific group of village children all went on to study science. Some went into engineering, others into physics and others into mathematics. Some of us also became amateur astronomers and we’d set up our telescopes in the village. People seemed to enjoy the activity, so we started framing the observation sessions with scientific lectures by experts we’d invite from Athens,” Dimopoulos says. The Asea Association of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Engineering was founded in 2013 in response to the growing popularity and frequency of these events, and it was headquartered where it all started, in the imposing stone village school, which is no longer in operation. Asea has fewer than 100 residents in the winter, but its population more than quadruples during major holidays and balmy weekends thanks to its proximity to Athens and the fact that many natives of Asea have kept their homes there and visit often.

DIY Construction

Once the association was set up, Dimopoulos wanted to build an observatory. Having studied civil engineering and physics, he was more than qualified for the job. “We felt that we needed something to inspire the kids, to give them a sense of awe. Telescopes are great, but they’re not enough. There are no amateur observatories; we’re the only one. And while there are all sorts of amateur astronomy clubs in Greece, we are the only one that has its own observatory,” he says.

“It wasn’t an easy undertaking, mainly because of the dome. I designed it from scratch, and we eventually managed to build it, using all sorts of innovations on a small budget, which came mostly from donations by Asea locals and sponsorships,” he adds. The “handmade” observatory is truly just that, built with personal labor. The dome was constructed in a warehouse in Athens, cut up into four pieces and reassembled on-site. Much of the equipment was bought secondhand and restored to working order by the association’s members. A small solar telescope was sourced from Canada thanks to the efforts of a village resident.

Summer School

Fulfilling its mission to inspire youngsters to take an interest in astrophysics and astronomy – in the sciences more generally, in fact – the association organizes classes for high school students during the summer holidays. Its astrophysics and space technology summer school attracts interest from youngsters all over the country, but can only host 20 a year. In addition to the lessons, participants conduct experiments, observe the sun and head up to the observatory at night to view the stars and planets. The initiative is also supported by the Municipality of Tripoli.

The observatory is open to everyone – locals and visitors alike – who wants to use the facilities and equipment to observe the night sky. In fact, an increasing number of foreign tourists visiting the Peloponnese during their summer vacations are expressing an interest in joining the stargazing sessions after reading about the observatory online. Our eyes adjust to the darkness as the telescope swings toward the planet Jupiter. Mars, unfortunately, is not visible at this time of year.

Some 144 years ago and thousands of miles to the west, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was studying Mars at the Milan Observatory when he decided to name a part of it – a relatively smooth and bright expanse – Arcadia Planitia or Arcadia Plain. Decades later, NASA’s and Elon Musk’s plans for missions to Mars envision landing on this very same plain of the Red Planet – named Arcadia, after the poetic symbol of an unspoiled utopia. Here in the heart of the Peloponnese, the people in Asea are shining a spotlight on their ideal place.




In Kerastari, Too


The neighboring village of Kerastari also gets a few foreign visitors every once in a while. The hamlet is not at all touristy, but it is the birthplace of Tasso Tzioumis, the longtime head of the Australia Telescope National Facility and representative of the Australian government at the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva.

Tzioumis left his village at the age of 17 for faraway Australia, where he completed his studies and launched his professional career. But he never forgot his roots, which is why he organized the International Conference on Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics at the old stone schoolhouse in 2012. Four more conferences followed the inaugural event, bringing world-renowned scientists from all over the globe to the area.