EURO-ASTRO-BOXES

-photos Valentin Grigore
text Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
design Florin Alexandru Stancu-

Don’t worry, Galileo,
and yet
Europe does astronomically move
with any sunrise and any sunset.

*

Starting from Galileo Galilei’s well-known words
“and yet it does move”,
said after he discovered new dimensions of the sky
by using for the first time a lunette for astronomical purposes in 1609,
and choosing for the start and the end of the project images taken by Valentin Grigore
from events organized by him and SARM in Targoviste in 2014,
I decided, with Valentin’s cooperation,
to invent 4 photo-“boxes” for Europe (to metaphorically keep better precious memories),
each one with a sample lived by my friend at astronomical events in 2013 and 2014,
to demonstrate the large continuity of the “queen of sciences” over centuries.

1. NORTH-WEST BOX:
EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY NETWORK
MEETING 2013,
MUNICH, GERMANY

This international meeting took place in the winter of 2013
at the ESO centre near Munich
(Capital of Bavaria, founded in the 13th century)
to establish details about the educational-astronomical activities of this institution
for the countries of the “old continent”.

Valentin Grigore proposes a photographic poem with images taken from airplane,
then one with Jupiter over the Theatine Church
(a Catholic one, founded in the 17th century),
images from the astronomical meeting,
a walk in the centre of the city under the Moon,
images from a BMW exhibition and with Allianz Arena (from outside),
Sirius near the Olympic Tower
and finally again
Jupiter over the Theatine Church
with Aldebaran (much smaller, on the left) as bonus.

2. NORTH-EAST BOX:
INTERNATIONAL METEOR CONFERENCE 2013,
POZNAN, POLAND

This conference took place in the Capital of Greater Poland Voivodeship
(a city founded in the 10th century).

Valentin Grigore’s photographic poem includes
a building with astral symbols,
a collection of bridges and a sunset on the road,
sequences from the conference,
an excursion to the famous Morasko Meteorite (fallen about 5000 years ago)
and its largest crater,
a walk in the central zone of the city,
and finally the love bridge over the Warta River
with visions of Ostrow Tumski - Cathedral Island
(from where a legend says that three brothers,
Lech, Czech and Russ
started to found the three major Northern-Slavic nations)
and the Sun over the Catholic Cathedral
(founded in the 10th century and remade in the beginning of the 20th century,
where even Mieszko I, the first king of Poland, was buried.)

3. SOUTH-WEST BOX:
SARM + ASTROTRAVELS EXPEDITIONS
IN LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN

Since 2010
the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy-SARM
(led by the most famous Romanian amateur astronomer,
Valentin Grigore)
and Astro Travels
(a firm led by the most famous Romanian professional astronomer,
Ovidiu Vaduvescu,
who lives in La Palma,
leads also the EURONEAR Project - a team that has discovered many asteroids -
and is the manager of the Isaac Newton Telescope)
organizes annually an international expedition
to the last island in the Canary archipelago.

Even if this island is geographically placed in the Atlantic Ocean
closer to Africa than to Europe,
politically it belongs to Spain
and astronomically it belongs to the entire world
just because here
the largest international “agglomeration” of telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere
was created since the 1980s,
culminating with the largest optical telescope in the world,
Gran Telescopio Canarias,
made in 2009.

Valentin Grigore’s photographic poem includes more images from La Palma
taken in 2013 and 2014,
beginning with a partial solar eclipse in May 2013 missed because of the clouds,
continuing with natural and urban photos
(it is to note that Santa Cruz de La Palma, the Capital of the island,
was the 3rd largest harbor in the world in the 17th century,
excellently placed on the oceanic road between Europe and Americas),
and ending with a grace photo,
the Milky Way over GranTeCan!

4. SOUTH-EAST BOX:
SARM EVENTS IN 2014
IN TARGOVISTE, ROMANIA

During 2014
Valentin Grigore and SARM organized more astronomical events
in the former Capital of Wallachia,
a city dominated by a tower made by Vlad Tepes Dracula in the 15th century.

Here is his photographic poem with sequences from the
Global Astronomy Month and International Astronomy Day,
a side-walk astronomy event
and an astrophotographic exhibition right in the City Hall.

*

Valentin Grigore added to this project two other photographic poems
with images from two of the most important Capitals in Europe,
placed in the central zone of the continent.

The first of them refers to Berlin, Germany
(founded in the 13th century):
the Victory Column (made in the 1870s, as the monument of the unification),
the Reichstag building (made in the 1890s),
the Brandenburg Gate (made in the 18th century),
the Dome (founded in the 15th century, remade in the 1900s;
it appears here with a small rainbow in front of it),
a few cosmic symbols
and the Alexander Platz,
ending with Jupiter over the TV Tower.

The second of them refers to Prague, Czech Republic
(founded in the 9th century):
it includes a few cosmic symbols,
nocturnal images near the Vltava River (catching even the famous castle)
and images from the central square,
being astronomically framed by a monument dedicated to Ursa Major
and the Prague Meridian (made in the 17th century).

*

Galileo, as you proudly can see,
this is not only your legacy,
this is also the sky lovers’
magnificent energy!