The Milky Way over Aristarchos Telescope
Copyright: Alexandros Maragos
http://www.alexandrosmaragos.com
The Milky Way over Aristarchos Telescope by
Alexandros Maragos, on Flickr
The Milky Way over Aristarchos Telescope at the top of Chelmos Mountain
in Achaia, Kalavryta, Greece, at an altitude of 2340m/7677ft.
I took this shot in a moonless night on July 18th, 2012, around midnight.
The location has been measured as one of the darkest areas both in Greece and in Europe and i wanted
the best possible conditions to capture the Milky Way. When i reached the top i saw the most amazing sky.
I was standing in awe. Truly breathtaking.
The Telescope:
Named after Aristarchos of Samos, the first reported person to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system,
the 2.3m Greek telescope, with a focal ratio f/8, is the pride of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IAA)
of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), and the largest telescope in southeastern Europe.