Filenews 26 March 2021 - by Pavlos Neophytou
"The time has arrived," assures George Tzivas, Director of the Press Office of Planetarium Cyprus. As he points out, this year is a milestone for Astronomy on our island: two projects, for which he has been working for years, the Planetarium of Cyprus in the area of Tamasos and the Troodos Observatory in Agridia, are beginning to materialize. Already proceeded 25% of the work of the first, while in about a month the bulldozers for the Agridia of Limassol go up.
In his interview with eyenews, Giorgos Tzivas explains how our lives will change with the operation of the two works, while as far as he is concerned, everything is summed up in the reasoning and words of the Athenian philosopher Stelios Ramfos: "when our dreams come true we get smaller". He visits the construction site in Tamasos every day and each time his mixed feelings are stirred by a flashback to his grandmother's house in the early 1970s and in the wake of the Apollo program. Specifically in an old locker – "spaceship" and a room – "planetarium", where it all started...
You recently left Journalism and devoted yourself to your other love, Astronomy. How do you serve her?
But with journalism again! Now from the position of Director of the Press Office of planetarium Cyprus. There is much to be done in Astronomy in Cyprus. This year, with the start of the projects, both for the planetarium in the area of Tamasos and for the observatory in Troodos, the time crew has arrived.
What prospects does the creation of a planetarium open up for Cyprus?
It all started in 2003, when in collaboration with the Planetarium of Thessaloniki we brought to Cyprus the mobile planetarium "Starlab". Purely educational. It received approval from the Ministry of Education and has been operating as a star school ever since. Maria Stefadourou, our teacher, may have twice toured Cyprus to visit our schools. A few thousand students have entered space-time! Then we called it the "Vegas Planetarium"! From the movie "Contact" in honour of Carl Sagan. Eighteen years later, the construction of a modern digital planetarium in the area of Tamasos began. The prospects are enormous. We're already working on a scientific collaboration with the University of Chicago.
According to Metropolitan Tamassou and Mountain, Isaiah, "with the planetarium, we are led to the decoding of the Wisdom of God, through the greatness of the universe". How would you comment or supplement that?
Metropolitan Isaiah is an open-eyed man. He doesn't stay quiet for a second. He hunts a lot of plays and it's to his honour that he stood out. The decoding of God's Wisdom through a state-of-the-art planetarium is a courageous step towards the convergence of Theology and Science. And who doesn't want to take steps in that direction? The age of dogmas declines over time, however much we think otherwise. In a few years we'll be on Mars cutting rides! And I'm filling in something that's taught me all this way. Science must be the obvious trace of the divine in our lives!
What will make it unique in the Eastern Mediterranean, as a project announcement says? Could you give us an insight into its operation?
No other country in the region has what we will have in a year' s time. When you hear Planetarium think of a Science Centre that can host all kinds of research or programs. At the Planetarium in Glasgow, Scotland, I saw an excellent film about the rare sea beds in the Canary Islands! There are no restrictions on creating prospects. And astro-tourism will benefit greatly in Cyprus. This program began last year and in two years its study will be implemented. Top Kinisis is the head of the programme involving universities and other research organisations. The star-countries and the astro-parks will soon begin to spring up in free Cyprus. The Planetarium of Cyprus will participate in this development.
How about a child who goes to face the Universe for the first time in the planetarium dome, with galaxies, planets and stars?
Let his enthusiasm turn into admiration! Admiration is the acquis of the man in love. If you don't admire something, you can't be attracted to it! Think of Manos Hatzidakis and Nikos Gatsos. Two out of three songs they wrote about love and love contain heaven and stars! "The star of the north will bring star!" and countless others... So we admire that it charms us and we follow it faithfully! As long as it's possible...
What about a Cypriot politician?
Cypriot politicians, with few exceptions, have no universe, even a political one, to admire! Let alone suggest that we be inspired by it. They're very earthly. They see until the next election. We see it as the next galaxy! People aren't just votes and numbers. We're going to have to find a way to get our politicians through fast-paced astronomy classes! It is not only Cypriot politicians who are like this, but also on the world stage we see the same thing. It's a good thing scientists are even taking their solitary course and changing the world.
"Planetarium and Observatory cooperation will be necessary"
At what stage is the other big project that concerns you, the Troodos Observatory?
You won't believe it, but in about a month the bulldozers are going up for the Limassol Farms. The Troodos Observatory will become a reality, which is why I'm telling you right now that planetarium and observatory collaboration will be necessary. The nice thing is, they're both going to finish almost at the same time. They'll be ready by 2022. Don't ask me what month, I admire the stars, they don't... Read!
To make this dream come true, you worked closely with the well-known Greek Astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and NASA partner Thanasis Economou. What have you gained so far from this experience?
The beloved friend Thanasis Economou is a special man and scientist. He helped us a lot. Especially with his dedication to space research. When we meet, I get an embarrassment when I think this man was drinking coffee with the astronauts who went to the moon! Now he's also involved in the Mars programs. Several of his scientific instruments are on the red planet. He is an invaluable friend who inspires us all with his modesty and morals. This summer he'll be with us!
Let's move from partial to all. How do you see the purpose of the Observatory, which you direct, and education in general, being achieved through the future actions and programs of a planetarium and an observatory?
The StarSchool, if we go back, has been in operation since 2003. Let me remind you (because it is not known) that we participated with the planetarium in the Cultural Olympiad of the Athens Olympic Games! The Planetarium and the Observatory should be involved in Capital Education and Research. The people around us are thirsty for quality. What's more beautiful to enjoy it through entertainment...
You've been studying, writing and running astronomy programs for years. Really, what does the average Cypriot know about the Universe?
Today's young people know a lot more than middle-aged people! Especially the elementary school kids know more than we do, which we're supposed to be "experts.". "Children must learn by playing", Plato taught us, and Astronomy and Space is a magical educational space-time. I know at least seven ten-year-olds who want to be astronauts! And three students studying astrophysics!
"When our dreams come true, we get smaller"
On the occasion of the news of the resumption of works in the Planetarium, you wrote these days on social media: "I fall into reflection and the words of the Athenian philosopher Stelios Ramfos give me mixed feelings: 'When our dreams come true we get smaller'". Could you explain it to us?
Planetarium as an idea is my childhood repulsion. In 1970, after the Apollo program, I... "gave" and an old carved locker of my grandmother I emptied it and turned it into... spaceship and room in... Planetarium! It was the first and only time I grabbed them from the broomstick my grandfather was holding. He chased me with anger and gave me three or four in the butt. Because of course I grabbed a room for him...
What about Stelios Ramfos?
Stelios Ramfos's phrase "when our dreams come true we get smaller" upset me as soon as I read it in one of his books. I didn't get the point easily. And yet, now with the Planetarium of Cyprus, where almost every day I go and see the trucks and construction sites working non-stop, like lightning the phrase lit up. Our dreams must always surpass us. They can't come in our natural size. We limit them and define us suffocatingly. Alas, if we rest. The Planetarium of Cyprus I think of as a springboard for something that will not be static.
Can you give another example?
The case of the first man to step on the Moon. An elusive dream for all of us. Yes, it is! Think of Neil Armstrong back on Earth teaching in a university hall. It would be unbearable for him, I think. Reading the book "First Man" about his life, I found that the first man who stepped on the moon, the one who said about: "a small step for man a great leap for mankind" was tormented by depression. It began with the death of his daughter, took his depression to - what irony - "sea of serenity" on the Moon and brought her back with him and always tortured him.
"A journey to space is nothing but a journey into our inner universe"
Plague for our time depression?
Let's not open this black hole now... I will say only this: depression proves that the "abyss the soul of man" applies. Depression is the absence of perspective.
Does this have anything to do with the dreams we talked about above?
My dream there in the Planetarium to be able to project that man's journey to space is nothing but man's journey into his inner universe. I'd like psychiatrists and priests to try to decipher human adventure as a mission of self-awareness.
And how does Space help us?
The vast infinity of the universe reaches a... area that scientists called the "Wall of Blanc". You can't go any further than the fraction of that second that the big explosion happened. God I suspect is somewhere "there" without giving "there" a space-time dimension. But we'll never know, thank God!
Why, fortunately?
Because there wouldn't be any sense afterwards. So we have to look for it all the time and apply what John F. Kennedy said and it always fascinates me: "We choose to go to the Moon not because it's easy but because it's hard." That's how the space race started in the '60s. The Soviets preceded Gagarin - the first man to come out into space. So let's not forget that the cold war took us to the moon. Now globalization is leading us to Mars and who knows where else with the... Elon Musk's chips
Are you afraid of chips?
Like someone's afraid of nuclear weapons. Nuclear power is essential and valuable to us. Guns don't. It always depends on the use of any scientific evolution. Who disagrees?
You didn't tell us about the Planetarium investor in Tamaso.
He is Viatisslav Zarekov, almost twenty years a permanent resident of Cyprus. His investment is a business move. He admires Space, but the Cyprus Planetarium will have to operate professionally to have the prospects for continuous action and upgrading. Cypriot citizens, scientists, foreign researchers, but also tourists will have a permanent reference point. Look at the designs and you will understand that we are talking about a real gem in Cyprus.
Twenty questions George Tsivas. Who would you like to be the last one?
Let the latter not be formulated! I'd rather stay the first, for when we're all together in the air-armchair room and at a 45-degree gradient! Ready for a launch into the depths of the dark universe. Only the joy and admiration of young and old will be the best reward for all those who have started and completed this unique project for Cyprus.
