User:Jfphil/pari1



Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) (pronounced Perry) is an astronomical observatory located in the United States about 5 miles northwest of Rosman, 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 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 1800's until the 1980's. 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.

General information
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 a worldwide satellite tracking network and an integral communications link for Project Gemini, and Project Apollo - the manned space programs. The facility was transferred from NASA to the Department of Defense(DOD) in 1981 and was used as an intelligence gathering facility for the United States. The site was officially closed by the DOD 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 scientist 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 scientist. 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 over flying 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.



General References

 * Goldman, Stuart J. "Mission Possible: The Promise of Pisgah." Sky and Telescope Magazine.  October 2001:42


 * Hargreaves, Lynley. "Spy Station Retooled into Astronomy Institute."  Physics Today.  March 2001 Volume 54, Number 3