RFK
The Research Foundation of Kefallinia (RFK) “EUDOXOS” is the administrational centre of an Astronomical Observatories Complex placed around the 1070 m plateau of the Ainos Mountain, in the Ionian island of Kefallinia. The Eudoxos’ Astronomy Complex comprises the main “Ainos Astronomy Base” and its “Satellite Space Station -G. Lykoudis”. RFK has been established to fulfill the aim of the donation of the Astronomy Base premises by the Hellenic Air Force (concluded in 1998) for the creation of a (then) proposed astronomical observatory in mount Ainos.
RFK/”EUDOXOS” is a self-ruled legal entity (initially of the Prefecture of Kefallinia & Ithaca and finally of the Region of Ionian Islands), in the form of an Astronomical and associated fundamental physics Foundation, as described in its constitutional Presidential Decree (2005).
RFK/ “EUDOXOS” structure:
It comprises the following two complementary scientific establishments bearing the same name:
- The EUDOXOS National Observatory of Education (NOE-“E”) which administers the RFK’s educational telescopes
- The EUDOXOS National Astronomy Centre (NAC-“E”) which administers the RFK’s research telescopes
RFK/EUDOXOS was the first Robotic Astronomy Center in Greece (1999) and has been one of the major European establishments specializing in Robotic Astronomy, as well as one of the founding members of the Heterogeneous Telescope Network (HTN).
Its infrastructure was funded on a case by case basis mainly from national (Ministry of Education) and international (E.U) research programmes (1999-2004). Unfortunately, the onset of the economic crisis of Greece combined with various administrational and political pathologies causing severe inefficiencies in the peripheral administration, led to the migration of our highly qualified support staff and the (still lacking official argumentation) stop (from 2010-onwards) in providing even the obligatory annual maintainance and security costs.
OPERATIONAL STATUS UPDATE (Dec. 2015):
- The TCC research telescope is kept active for science. It operates on a mutual agreement basis between RFK and interested institutions/scientists. (no night assistance of support scientist is provided).
- The TAM & TVD normal telescope operation was decided to be suspended (apart from demonstration visits), until new funding sourses for their maintainance and repairs as well as for young support scientist personnel, are found. (NOE-E is seeking for industrial or private sponsors).
- An RFK normal operation rescue scheme associated with its minimal economic proposal w re-submitted (2009, 2013, 2015) and re-aproved (last time in 2015) by the Peripheral/Regional Council of the Ionian Islands. However, internal and cross-ministerial bureaucracy channels have caused new delays, and cannot answer when, eventually, they will put that decision into effect.
It is hoped that the current Peripheral Administration will restore the regularity of the RFK’s (minimal but absolutely essential) funding and, therefore, will provide the means for young people job creation as well as middle-life maintainance/modernization of the precious insfrastructures of the Centre. It is foreseen that this scheme will be proved sufficient to resume operational availability of the majority of the RFK’s small educational telescopes.