Presentation

‘PlanetsMeetingthePublic’,OutreachInnovationDay,
Athens,Greece,Monday4thJuly2016
Archaeoastronomy:
Education and Popularization
Efstratios Koufos
Archaeoastronomy explainswhytheskyhadspecificsignificanceandusetomany
cultures.Itanalyzesthemovementsofthesun,themoon,theplanetsandthestars,as
wellasthemainastronomicalphenomenas suchassolstices,equinoxesandfullmoons.
TempleofApollo inAcropolis ofRhodes
RhodesIslandwithgreatheritage
inastronomy
stronomerandphilosopherEudemus 300BC
ipparchus",thefatherofastronomy150BC
reatastronomerPosidonius 100BC
Geminus ofRhodes50BC
Rhodesisland
Planetaryalignments
Astrophotography
Astronomicalorientations ofbuilding from ancienttemples
butalsofromMedieval,ChristianandMuslimones
Theanalemma ofthesun
InTempleofApollo.
ThechurchofSt.Konstantinos insouthernRhodes.
ProfessorXenophonMousas,astrophysician
showinganancientinscriptionandtribute
Asyoucansee,many
monumentswereunfortunately
damagedordestroyedintheir
entity,usedasmaterialsfornew
constructionsordestroyedby
naturalcauses,butmost
importantly,illegalexcavations
TheinscriptionofKeskindos
Theinscriptionof
Keskindos
Antikythera mechanis
thisknowledgeshouldsomehowexternalizeintopopularsciencebecauseknowledgeoft
historyoftheregionisveryimportantforthecitizensofeveryageandeverycountry.
ortheseeventsweoftenchooselocationsthatcombinebotharchaeologyandastronomy,
rexampleinthepictureyouseethesitesofthetempleofApollo,AthenaPolias andZeus
olieus.
peeches, workshops, andevensciencecafe
ypemeetings, specialsessionsforschools etc
reorganized.
Weoftenintervenein
cooperationwithschoolsby
lettingchildren'sbecreative
somehoursafterclass
Inthesecondphaseweperform
astronomyschoolsforlargergrou
withmorespecializedcontent.
Forthosewhowishtoaddlabhours anddealwiththe
handling ofthetelescopeobservatorywith
astrophotography, operatedplanetariumprograms
Theexperimentof
Eratosthenes
tp://eratosthenes.ea.gr/
TheexperimentofEratosthenes
http://eratosthenes.ea.gr/
TheastronomicalorientationofancientNymphaeums locatedinthenorthwest
sideoftheAcropolisofRhodes.
Theraysreflectsinthewatersandendsupintheopposite wallwithviewofthesun.Probably
onthiswall,therewereplansorperformances thatsignaled thesacredfestivalsoftheNymphs.
hortlyaftertheywereoughttoorganizetheir
eldexperimentandthemethodsused.Each
tudenthaddifferentrolesintheexperiment.
Projecttitle:AstronomyThroughoutHumanSocieties:
TheRhodesProject2014,OADfunding
TheRhodesproject wasdesignedtoinspirechildrenandyoungpeople,helpingthemto
developagenuineinterestinastronomy,toappreciatethecultureoftheirancestorsand
ofpeoplearoundtheworldatalltimes,makingtheirpersonalconnectionwiththesky.
Weproposedasetofeducationalactivitiesattemping torelatethepositionofthestars
andtheperiodicalmotionsofthesun,tosomeofthemostimportantmonumentsof
theRhodesisland.Thesewouldbecombinedwithclassroompresentations,starparties
andsummercampadventurestoreachouttothousandsofstudentsinthisruralareaof
Greece.Theimpactofourprojectisexpectedtobeverysignificantandtriggervivid
interesttofurtherexploretherelationshipbetweenastronomyandancientcultures,
propagatingaframeworkofsimilareducationalactivitiesthroughoutGreece,wellknownforitsantiquitiesandastronomicalhistory.
Theprojectwouldculminatewithaninternationalconferenceonarchaeoastronomy,to
raiseinternationalawarenessandsupportforbuildinganastronomicalobservatoryin
theareaofancientDelphitoactasalandmarkforarchaoastronomy andassociated
astronomyeducationandoutreachactivities,thefirstofitskindtothebestofour
knowledge.
Eleni Chatzichristou (Rodos College),Stratos Koufos (Eudimos
Observatory),Ioannis Lyritzis UniversityoftheAegean