Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

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Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) (pronounced Perry) is an astronomical observatory located in the United States in Balsam Grove, North Carolina. It is operated as a not-for-profit public foundation. PARI is in the Pisgah National Forest of Western North Carolina at an elevation of 914 m (3,000 ft). The observatory is affiliated with the University of North Carolina system through the Pisgah Astronomical Research and Science Educational Center (PARSEC) and also hosts research and study programs with Furman University, Clemson University, Virginia Tech, South Carolina State University and Duke University. PARI operates multiple radio telescopes and optical telescopes for research and teaching purposes. The foundation also sponsors astronomy educational programs using the portable StarLab planetarium. This program has been presented to over 40,000 people of all ages in Western North Carolina.

PARI Central Campus with 26 West and 26 East

PARI is home to the North American Astronomical Photographic Plate Preservation & Digitization Center(Plate Center) a site to help preserve astronomical photographic plates. These plates were the primary recording medium for astronomy data from the late 1800s until the 1980s. It is estimated that over two million of these invaluable plates exist in astronomy facilities around the world and are in jeopardy of being destroyed because of a lack of storage facilities.

1 General information
2 See also
3 External links
4 General References

[edit] General information

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
Organization	Not-for-Profit Public Foundation
Location	Rosman, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates	35°11′59″N 82°52′21″W / 35.1996, -82.8724
Altitude	914 m (2985 to 3070 ft)
Web page	http://www.pari.edu/
Optical Telescopes
Solar Telescope	Coronado Solarmax 40
Polaris Telescope	10 cm refractor
Space Telescope	10 inch Cassegrain
Furman / PARI Telescope	0.35 meter Cassegrain
PARSEC Telescope	16 inch Cassegrain
Radio Telescopes
26 meter East	327 MHz for Pulsar research
26 meter West	1.4 and 4.8 GHz
12 meter	Precision Surface 20 GHz
4.6 meter	Smiley 21 cm (1.42 GHz)
Sun / Jupiter Array	Automated tracking at 17 to 30 MHz
VLF Loop antenna	8 to 300 kHz
Eight Meter Transient Array	Joint Virginia Tech / PARI project

PARI is located at the site of the former Rosman Satellite Tracking Station founded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1962. The site was part of the worldwide Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network and an integral communications link for Project Gemini, and Project Apollo - the manned space programs. The facility was transferred from NASA to the National Security Agency (NSA) in 1981 and was used as an intelligence gathering facility for the United States. The site was officially closed by the NSA in 1995 and turned over to the United States Forest Service. After several years of inactivity, the government proposed to dismantle the facility. Recognizing the potential future use of this site a small group of interested scientists and businessmen formed a not-for-profit public foundation and was able to acquire the site in January 1999. Capital investment continues allowing updates of the equipment for astronomical purposed and maintaining a staff of professional astronomers, engineers, and other scientists. Friends of PARIhelps support the educational and research goals of PARI.

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.

The PARI site has hosted several professional astronomy meetings including The Small Radio Telescope Conference in August 2001, and the Gamma-Ray Bursts Today and Tomorrow Conference in August 2002.