Tornos News — The Skinaka Observatory in Crete has been selected to carry out a unique astrophysics experiment that seeks to “sweep aside” the veil of cosmic dust in the universe in order to reveal traces of the Big Bang, the “primeval light” formed at the earliest moments of creation. The Crete observatory will be joined by South Africa’s SAAO Observatory in the attempt.
The attempt was announced on Wednesday at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science EWASS 2016 conference held in Athens, which organised by the Eugenides Foundation in collaboration the European Astronomical Society and the Greek Astronomical Society.
The observatory of Skinakas is a joined project of the University of Crete, the Foundation for Research and Technology (ITE) and the Max Planck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik of Germany.
It is located at the top of Psiloriti mountain in Rethymnon at an altitude of 1,750 meters. It uses two telescopes in separate buildings.
The first telescope came into operation in 1986. The second one, with a mirror diameter of 1,3 m., is the largest observatory in Greece and it was inaugurated in 1995.
The Observatory is open to the public one Sunday every month during the summer
