Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) (pronounced ''perry'') is a non-profit

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

located in the

Pisgah National Forest Pisgah National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The P ...

near Balsam Grove, North Carolina. PARI operates multiple

radio telescopes A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

and

optical telescopes An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through electronic image sensors. ...

for research and teaching purposes. The observatory is affiliated with the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

system through the Pisgah Astronomical Research and Science Educational Center (PARSEC).

History

PARI is located at the site of the former Rosman Satellite Tracking Station, which was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

) in 1962. The site was part of the worldwide Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network and an integral communications link for the crewed space programs

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...

and

Project Apollo The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

. The facility was transferred to the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

(NSA) in 1981. Known as the Rosman Research Station, it was used as a

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

gathering facility. The site was closed by the NSA in 1995 and transferred to the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

. After several years of inactivity, the federal government proposed to dismantle the facility. Recognizing the utility of the site, a small group of interested scientists and businessmen formed a not-for-profit foundation, which acquired the site in January 1999. It has continued capital investment at the facility, enabling updates of the equipment for astronomical observation purposes. A staff of professional astronomers, engineers, and other scientists work at the observatory. In the early morning hours of Dec 24th, 2012, the institute was burglarized. Its collection of about 100 meteorites, valued at at least $80,000 and with specimens weighing up to , was stolen, along with about $100,000 worth of TVs, monitors, projectors, microscopes, and other scientific equipment. Much of the stolen property, including the meteorite collection, was recovered within a week.

Research and education

PARI hosts research and study programs with

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, South Carolina State University and

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. The PARI site has hosted several professional astronomy meetings, including the Small Radio Telescope Conference in August 2001, the Gamma-Ray Bursts Today and Tomorrow Conference in August 2002 and the Workshop on a National Plan for Preserving Astronomical Photographic Plates in November 2007. PARI hosts several educational opportunities, including the

Talent Identification Program. PARI also sponsors astronomy educational programs using the portable StarLab

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

. These have been presented to more than 40,000 people in

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...

Facilities

The principal radio research instruments at PARI are two 26-meter radio telescopes and a 4.6-meter radio telescope named Smiley. These have been adapted for precision tracking of celestial radio sources using multiple frequencies. Smiley is used for remote classroom teaching of astronomy by students in the US and worldwide. Smiley was given its pleasant face around 1982 as a greeting to overflying foreign surveillance satellites. PARI is home to the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA), a site to help preserve astronomical photographic plates. These plates were the primary recording medium for astronomy data from the late 19th century until the 1980s. It is estimated that over two million of the plates are held in astronomy facilities around the world and are in jeopardy of being destroyed because of a lack of storage facilities. An Exhibit Gallery displays a collection of rare meteorites and minerals, as well as NASA Space Shuttle artifacts. Many of the latter are from space flights. Image:17 22 055 A7 engine.jpg, Redstone rocket engine on display Image:17 22 008 fossil.jpg, Knightia fossils from the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sedimen ...

Image:17 22 015 ferns.jpg, Carboniferous Ferns Image:17 22 112 petrified wood.jpg, Petrified Wood Image:17 22 062 amethyst.jpg, Brazilian

Amethyst Amethyst is a Violet (color), violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek from - , "not" and (Ancient Greek) / (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from Alcohol into ...

Image:17 22 070 toluca.jpg, Toluca meteorite Image:17 22 078 meteorite.jpg, Seymchan meteorite Image:17 22 086 meteor.jpg, Canyon Diablo Meteorite Image:17 22 104 meteorite.jpg, Fragment of D'Orbigny meteorite Image:17 22 094 agate.jpg,

Agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...

s collected between 1920 - 1950

Notes

General references

*Goldman, Stuart J. "Mission Possible: The Promise of Pisgah." ''

Sky & Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include: *observing guides for planets, ...

''. October 2001:42. *Hargreaves, Lynley.
"Spy Station Retooled into Astronomy Institute"
''

Physics Today ''Physics Today'' is the membership magazine of the American Institute of Physics. First published in May 1948, it is issued on a monthly schedule, and is provided to the members of ten physics societies, including the American Physical Society. ...

''. March 2001 Volume 54, number 3.

External links