A little bit about us...
Project ASTRO (Aristotle Student Telescope for Radio-astronomy Observations) was created in July 2022 by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki's (AUTh) space technology and research student team, BEAM.
Creation and founders of the project
The founders of project ASTRO are two students of the School of Physics, Evi Koursoumpa, and Giorgos Michailidis, under the authority of the associate professor of the Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, Dr. Pantelis Papadopoulos, and the contribution of student Giannis Liodis as Project Scientist.
Goals and Vision
The project’s main goal is the design and development of a Radio Telescope, capable of detecting a plethora of radio sources, like atomic hydrogen (21 cm), celestial bodies of our solar system, galaxies, masers, and chemical molecules, like ammonia and hydroxyl in space. However, the project's general goal is to support and contribute to the rise of Radio-astronomy and, simultaneously, of Astronomy in Greece. It is estimated that the duration of ASTRO will be 5 years with three main phases: Design, Construction, Operation-Measurements.
Motives and Impact
The idea to create ASTRO sources from the fact that there are little to no Radio-astronomy related initiatives in Greece, except for PICTOR, which is located in Athens. The desire of the students to practice using a radio telescope inspired the creation of ASTRO, as well as, the collection of data that could be used in scientific research. ASTRO was created to promote Radio-astronomy in Greece, allowing a wider audience to get informed about it as well as get accustomed to it.
Location and Facilities
ASTRO is located in Thessaloniki, with its activities taking place at the observatory of AUTh for the trainings, and the laboratory of BEAM at the Faculty of Engineering for the meetings and constructions.
Teams and Structure
ASTRO’s workforce consists of 40 members, who work in 6 different teams, which are the following:
- Science Team
- Mechanical and Material Science Team
- Software and Website Development Team
- Robotics Team
- Electrical and Electronics Team
- Marketing and Financial Management Team
Mentors and Partners
The responsible professor of project ASTRO, Dr. Pantelis Papadopoulos, has worked, in the past, with one of the most important Radio Telescopes in the world, the James Clerk Maxwell Radio Telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Other mentors of the project are:
Georgios Kyriakou, Post Doc. Research Fellow at Sapienza Università di Roma
Apostolos Spanakis-Misirlis: Creator of PICTOR Radio Telescope and Virgo software
Vasilios Spanakis-Misirlis: Creator of PICTOR Radio Telescope
Collaboration with Mechanical Engineers from NRAO’s team (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
Check out our Social Media
To stay up to date with the activities and progress of project ASTRO, you can follow BEAM’s pages on the following social media platforms: