Nicolas Matsopoulos
Nicolas T. Matsopoulos has degrees in Shipbuilding (BEng), Natural Sciences (BSc), Science Communication (MSc) and in Education (MEd).
His interest started as an amateur astronomer in early adolescence. During the period 1973‒1978 he worked as a volunteer observer at the Astronomical Institute of the National Observatory of Athens.
In 1979 he joined its permanent staff observing variable and binary stars, the major planets and the Sun, in collaboration with the US Air Force personnel who run the Solar Observatory at the Penteli Astronomical Centre.
Furthermore, he developed a deep interest in the History of Science and Science Communication. In 1995 he developed the Visitor Centre at Penteli Observatory, financed by EU funds.
Since then, and until his retirement at the end of 2014, he was in charge of the Visitor Centre and dedicated himself to science communication. During this period he gave tours to about a quarter of a million visitors, hundreds of lectures all over the country, he established the first amateur astronomy society in Greece, and has produced several astronomical documentaries for the needs of the Visitor Centre and for local TV channels. He has written or co-written more than 270 articles, conference presentations and papers and eight books.
Theofanis Matsopoulos
Theofanis Matsopoulos specializes in Planetarium Film Production, FullDome Cinematography, Giant Screen Documentary Production, Visual Science Communication, 3D animation and Astrophotography.
He collaborates with world-famous organizations as European Southern Observatory (ESO), European Space Agency (ESA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) / AURA – Noirlab.
He has created and directed documentaries for planetariums which are presented in planetariums all over the world and have been translated into more than 30 languages.
The documentaries “From Earth To The Universe”, the award-winning “The Hot and Energetic Universe”, “The Sun: Our Living Star”, “Unveiling the invisible Universe” as well as more than 300 video clips, time-lapses, and 3D animations are available on the European Southern Observatory, ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NSF’s NoirLab website. They are distributed for free in order to disseminate astronomy science in general public.
He photographs nightscapes, astronomical phenomena and celestial deep sky objects using various telescopes in his private astronomical observatory.
He has presented four photography – astrophotography exhibitions titled: “The Greece of the Stars”, “Between Heaven and Earth”, “National Observatory of Athens”, “Ancient Corinth” in Athens (Eugenides Planetarium, National Observatory of Athens), Ioannina (Historical Archive Museum of Epirus), Corinth (Archaeological Museum of Nemea, Municipal Art Gallery of Corinth) and other cities and islands in Greece.
He also collaborates with the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) producing documentaries for the Visitor Center and taking astronomical images using its scientific instruments.
Theofanis Matsopoulos is a member of International Planetarium Society since 2018.
Awards
- “Golden Star Award (1st)” for the planetarium movie “The Hot and Energetic Universe” (International Planetarium Movie Festival at Gwacheon National Science Museum 2016)
- “Best FullDome Cinematography Award” for the planetarium movie “Capturing the Starlight: The Magnificent Telescopes” (International Fulldome Festival & Planetarium Conference – Yaroslavl 2017)
- “Best Visual Effects Award” for the virtual reality documentary “Mars: The Red Planet VR” (World Visual Reality Innovation Conference 2018)
- “The Best Science Popularizing Fulldome Show” for the planetarium movie “The Sun. Our living Star” (International Fulldome Festival & Planetarium Conference – Yaroslavl 2019)
- “Best Documentary Feature” for the giant screen documentary “The Great Journey” (Amsterdam World International Film Festival 2021)
- “Best Cinematography” for the giant screen documentary “The Great Journey” (San Francisco Film Festival 2021)
- “Best Documentary” for the giant screen documentary “The Great Journey” (Europe Film Festival U.K. Oct 2021)
- “Best Full-Dome Film” for the planetarium movie “Unveiling The Invisible Universe” (20th Baikal International Film Festival 2021)
- “Special Mention for outstanding achievement in Independent filmmaking 2021” for the giant screen documentary
The Great Journey (Austrian Film festival 2021) - “Best Visual Effects” for the planetarium movie “Unveiling The Invisible Universe” (8th Siberia Fulldome Festival 2022)
- “Best Cinematography” for the documentary “The instruments of Light ” (Eastern Europe Film Festival – March 2023)
- “Honorable Mention” for the documentary “The Great Journey “ (Athens International Art Film Festival – May 2023)
- “The Best Documentary Show” for the planetarium movie “Servare Intaminatum – 180 years Athens Observatory” (International Fulldome Festival & Planetarium Conference – Yaroslavl 2023)
Publications
- “The world’s first downloadable, full-length fulldome show” Planetarian – Journal of the International Planetarium Society 2015
- “An innovative way to do 4k fulldome filming” IPS 2016 Conference
- “Το Πλανητάριο στην Εκπαίδευση, το πρώτο Ψηφιακό Φορητό Πλανητάριο στην Ελλάδα” Πανελλήνιο Επιστημονικό Συνέδριο «Οπτικοακουστικός Γραμματισμός στην Εκπαίδευση» 2016. Τμήμα Κινηματογράφου Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών Α.Π.Θ
- “Från Jorden mot Universum” Lund University 2016
- “The Planetarium in the 21 st Century” Association of Brazilian Planetariums 2017
- “Vårt energirika universum” Lund University 2017
- “New Free ESO Show – The Sun: Our living star” IPS 2018 Conference
- “Some Thoughts for the Planetariums in the 21st Century” XII Gathering of the South American Planetarium Association – APAS · 2021
- “Audio Universe: A More Accessible Approach to Creating Shows” Planetarian – Journal of the International Planetarium Society 2021
Konstantinos Sakkas
Konstantinos Sakkas has a degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. Founder of Zagori Observatory and Ioannina Amateur Astronomy Association. He is actively engaged in astronomy since 1999 by organizing events and star parties in schools, private and public spaces as well as giving astronomy presentations in primary schools and high schools. From 2016 he created and operates Planetarium on the Go
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Christos Sakkas
Christos Sakkas has degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Patras and MSC Engineering Project Management from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, and works from 1999 in civil engineering constructions. From 2016 he created and operates Planetarium on the Go
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Sotiris Karkantelos
Sotiris Karkantelos, an amateur astronomer since his teenage years, studied Physics at the University of Ioannina Greece and is a postgraduate student of “Astrophysics and Cosmology” at the University of Padua, Italy.
His continued interest in astronomy led him to the Erasmus Internship at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (Universite Paris-Sud) in Orsay, France: “Feasibility of a solar telescope based on Fresnel optics”.
His thesis “Studying the transit of Venus in 05.06.2012 as an exoplanet transit”, reflects his interests in areas at the cutting edge of astrophysics.
He has taught Physics and Chemistry to middle school students.
Let us take you on a journey to the stars!