Manos Malakopoulos Born and lives in Thessaloniki. interest in astronomy coincided with the overwhelming appearance of Comet Ison C/2012s1 in 2013.  However, he did not purchase his first telescope and specialist camera until 2014.  Inspired by the handful of amateur astrophotographers around at the time, learning and practicing this art form continued over the next year until the next major equipment upgrade occurred in 2015.

Then, under night skies over Thessaloniki and with his own roof observatory, astrophotography began in earnest.  Manos was able to put all of the theory into practice and secured his first Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day (AAPOD) on 24 July 2016. Since then, Manos has secured 3 AAPODs.

Furthermore, his images and articles have appeared in many science publications, magazines, Forums and videos all over the world and more recently one of his images was also included in Space shots-The 100 Greatest Images of the Universe Published by Astronomy Now Magazine.

Awards:

Image of the day in Astrobin Photo Iris Nebula Ngc7023 22/06/2015

Image of the day in Astrobin Photo Cave Nebula, Sh2-155 24/07/2015

Image of the day in Astrobin Photo IC 59 and IC 63 01/12/2015

Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day 24/07/2015 Rosette nebula (Caldwell 49) HST Palette

Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day 26/01/2016 IC 59 and IC 63 

Αmateur Astronomy Picture of the Day 28/02/2016 Horsehead and Flame nebula

Astrophotography contest: Polarised Emission from Astrophysical Jets ( Deep sky image Sh2-129 Winner) 16/06/2017

There are also a few ‘crowning moments’ of note, particularly:

• Recognition and placement in the ATIK CAMERAS Catalogue The deep sky in full colour.
• Placement of two images (Sh2-129 and Horsehead nebula) in ‘Starstruck’ The Art of Astrophotography exhibition (Bates College Museum of Art).