PARI Participates in Grassroots Science Retreat

PARI staff participated in the NC Grassroots Science Museum Collaborative annual retreat January 27-29, 2012 in Hickory, NC. Don and Jo Cline, Dave Clavier and Christi Whitworth attended. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the RETREAT. The Collaborative represents 30 science organizations across North Carolina. The Collaborative museums, including PARI, serve 3.8 million visitors annually.

PARI Quarterly Newsletter, VIEW, Now Available On-Line

The Winter 2013 newsletter, VIEW, is now available on-line by clicking VIEW NEWSLETTER. This issue contains many interesting articles about the activities at PARI, including: an EMC TV program on APDA, update on the recommissioning of PARI's 12M antenna, Homeschool Day on Meteors and Meteorites, PARI attendance at several professional meetings, a SHODOR workshop at PARI on computational modeling, the Winter Star Party, Astrophotography by Richard Wright, Dr. Michael Castelaz' Research Update and Dr. Bob Hayward's article entitled, "Orbits of Comets and the 'Great' Comet of 2013".

Weekly Docent Led Tours of PARI Campus

Each year thousands of people come to PARI. We have welcomed visitors from around the world. Each Wednesday at 2:00 pm PARI's volunteer docents lead guided tours of our campus and include an overview video and a walking tour of the main program and research areas of the PARI campus. Visitors are encouraged to bring a camera to take pictures. The PARI campus is handicapped accessible. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of visitors from our Wednesday tours since 2007.

SciGirls Become Forensic Scientists

At the January 29, 2013 SciGirls program call "Super Sleuths" at the Transylvania County 4-H the SciGirls learned how materials can be analyzed with simple tools to determine likely forensic matches. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from this SciGirls program. The next SciGirls program will be held Tuesday, February 26th. SciGirls events are for girls ages 9-14 and are scheduled the last Tuesday of each month during the school year. The participation fee is $10 per student. Program details, specific hours and registration details can be found on the PARI website. Click REGISTER to sign up for an upcoming program. Join the PARI team and find new connections to science for year-round enjoyment and exploration.  Find out more about the national programming for SciGirls at http://pbskids.org/scigirls/.

PARI Well Represented at 221st Meeting of American Astronomical Society

PARI staff including Don Cline, Michael Castelaz and Christi Whitworth were joined by PARI interns Emma Taylor and Cameron Lemley at the 221st Meeting of AAS in Long Beach, California. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of them at the meeting. Emma was the 2012 Cline Scholar and presented a poster entitled, "Observations of Near Earth Objects 2002 AM 31." Cameron's poster was entitled, "Mapping the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex in Radio Frequencies." While at the meeting Christi Whitworth signed on to participate a NASA JPL team of educators to conduct research.

PARI Burglarized on Christmas Eve

The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute was broken into on 12-24-12. Electronic equipment, scientific instruments and meteorites were stolen and our facilities were vandalized. On Sunday, December 30th the Transylvania County Sheriff Department issued a PRESS RELEASE that identified two suspects, one of whom was arrested with one still at large. The Sheriff recovered many of the items stolen. Some items are still missing and others have been damaged beyond repair. We would like to thank the Transylvania and Henderson County Sheriffs' Departments, the local media, the international meteorite collectors' community, the PARI staff and volunteers for dealing with this sad event. Specifically we would like to thank Transylvania County Sheriff Department Detective Wade Abram for his professionalism. We will now focus our efforts on gathering the resources to replace and repair our facilities as best we can to advance STEM education and research for young and old.

Winter Star Party is Huge Success

Dozens of astronomy enthusiasts attended the 2012 Winter Star Party at PARI from December 14-16. They came from all over to hear speakers, tour PARI and for nighttime observing. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the weekend.

Students Interact With NASA Scientist During Homeschool Day at PARI

Students attending Homeschool Day at PARI interacted with a NASA scientist via a video conference during the Friday, November 2nd program. Homeschoolers and their parents learned about meteors and meteorites. They participated in a StarLab program, heard from PARI Science Educators and viewed PARI's extensive meteorite collection in the PARI exhibit gallery. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the program. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from previous Homeschool Days.

Recent Astrophotography Taken at PARI

PARI Distinguished Supporter Richard S. Wright, Jr. was on campus this October and captured some spectacular nighttime images. Click PHOTOS to see photographs taken by him during his visit. Richard, a frequent visitor to PARI, came to PARI to deliver recently acquired space shuttle artifacts from the Kennedy Space Center and to attend the October Evening at PARI program. Richard's photographs have been featured at PARI several times. One of his photos of Jo's Cove was used as the cover for the 2011 PARI Annual Report. You can see more of Richard's astro imaging at his website at www.eveningshow.com.

PARI Science Director Presents at NC OPT-ED Alliance Day

PARI Science Director, Dr. Michael Castelaz gave a presentation on "Astronomy and the Citizen Scientist," during the Tuesday, October 16th NC OPT-ED Alliance Day at the NCSU McKimmon Conference Center. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from his presentation. PARI is an affiliate program of the North Carolina Alliance to Create Opportunity through Education (NC OPT-ED), a NSF funded program.

EMC Corporation Producing Video on PARI Campus

A production crew from EMC-TV, the corporate television division of EMC Corporation, was on the PARI campus on Thursday and Friday, August 23-24 to tape a segment about PARI, APDA and EMC Corporation's support. Producer/Director Jon Taylor and cameraman Tony Belko interviewed several PARI staff for the production. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the shoot. EMC NC Operations Vice President Bob Hawkins was here for the taping. Bob, a Distinguished Supporter of PARI, has been instrumental in guiding EMC's philanthropic support of PARI, and specifically APDA.

Research Building Dedicated During FOP Annual Meeting

The 2012 Friends of PARI Annual Meeting and Symposium was held on Friday, September 14th. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the event. The speaker for the annual meeting was Steve Saucier, Executive Director of the NC Grassroots Science Museum Collaborative. During th evening, Research Building was dedicated and PARI thanked the contractors who worked on this project. Click PAST FRIENDS OF PARI ANNUAL MEETINGS to see pictures from past programs.

Space Telescope Science Institute Scientist Visits PARI

PARI was honored to have Vicki Laidler, a scientist in the Science Software Branch of the Space Telescope Science Institute visit PARI on Monday, August 6, 2012. Vicki was instrumental working with her colleague at the time, Dr. Barry Lasker, in the development and use of GAMMA 1 and GAMMA 2 for their use with the Hubble survey. This was Vicki's first visit to PARI since STSci and NASA donated the microdensitometers to PARI a few years ago. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from her visit. Vicki met with Dave Clavier, Michael Castelaz, Thurburn Barker and Lee Rottler. She reported that she was please to see what PARI has done with this very important donation.

Visitors Come to PARI to Discuss the Curiosity Mars Mission

PARI is joined with the Star Trek Club Alaric of Asheville for a special program of activities discussing the Curiosity Mars Mission which was held on PARI campus on Saturday, August 11th. This special program came at a time when the Curiosity Mars rover has just landed on the surface of Mars. Click PHOTOS to pictures from the day.

Duke TIP at PARI for the Eleventh Year

Thirty students who were attending the  Duke TIP Above and Beyond program concluded their two week stay at PARI on July 2nd. The program's focus was astronomy and astrophysics. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of the students and activities throughout the two weeks. Click PAST TIP PHOTOS to see pictures from previous years.

Cameras at PARI Capture Image of Meteor

Ever since Dr. Bill Cooke and his team from the NASA Space Flight Center installed an All Sky camera on the PARI site to support their research, it has captured some spectacular images. On Sunday morning, May 20th the camera recorded a meteor above PARI. At the same time, the PARI All Sky camera, which had been installed by Director of Public Outreach Joe Phillips recorded the image. Click PHOTO to see images from the cameras.

PARI Telescope Captures Images of Transit of Venus

On Tuesday, June 5th PARI President Don Cline and Science Director Dr. Michael Castelaz used a PARI Questar telescope in our West Observatory to stream pictures of the transit of Venus to the internet as it crossed in front of the Sun. Amid cloud cover, the sky opened and provided some dramatic image of this once in a lifetime event. Click PHOTOS to see pictures taken during the transit.

Nature Research Center Director Visits PARI

Dr. Meg Lowman, Director of the Nature Research Center at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences visited PARI on Monday, May 14, 2012. Don Cline led a tour of the PARI site for Meg and her husband, Michael. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of their visit. Dr. Lowman met with several staff and discussed collaborative opportunities between the Research Center and PARI.

PARI booth at the USA Science and Engineering Festival

PARI presented “Astrosurf with Smiley” at the Second USA Science and Engineering Festival (http://www.usasciencefestival.org/)  at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.  The Festival was Friday and Saturday, April 27-28. Visitors to the PARI booth used Smiley live and classified stars using PARI’s citizen science program SCOPE (http://scope.pari.edu) while PARI’s staff Christi Whitworth, Stephen Hawk, and Michael Castelaz explained the science and PARI’s mission.

PARI at Opening of the NCMNS Nature Research Center

PARI was well represented at the GALA and at the Grand Opening of the Nature Research Center at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in April. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the events. Dave and Darla Clavier were joined by PARI Board member Janet Parks at the GALA on Friday, April 13th. Don and Jo Cline, along with John Avant, attended the Grand Opening on April 20-21. Don has generously donated a portion of his meteorite collection to the museum. PARI has a kiosk at the new Nature Research Center, which will allow many more visitors to virtually experience PARI.

PARI Receives Gift of a 25" Newtonian Telescope

On Thursday, March 29th Friend of PARI Mike Webb, from Spartanburg, donated a 25" Obsession telescope to PARI. This telescope will be used by students and by the general public during our Evenings at PARI events. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the day.

PARI Publishes Our 2011 Annual Report

The 2011 PARI Annual Report is now available online. The photo for the cover of this year's annual report was taken by Friend of PARI Richard Wright and features Jo's Cove in the foreground and our 26M West antenna in the back. Click 2011 ANNUAL REPORT to see a pdf of the report. Jo's Cove is park on the PARI campus that was dedicated to our Chair, Jo Cline, in recognition of her years of support. The inside cover of the report lists the many highlights from 2011, which was a very good year for PARI. Contact David Clavier if you are interested in receiving a printed copy of the annual report.

NC Grassroots Science Museum Collaborative Executive Director Visits PARI

NCSMC Executive Director Steve Saucier visited PARI on Thursday, December 15, 2011. He met with Don and Jo Cline, Dave Clavier, Christi Whitworth and John Avant. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from his visit. He toured the site and discussed ways that PARI can be more involved in Grassroots.  While at PARI Steve also saw the Space Shuttle exhibit in the exhibit gallery and spent time in the Astronomical Photographic Plate Archive (APDA). PARI is one of 32 member science museums in the Grassroots Collaborative.

PARI Receives Another Significant Astronomical Photographic Plate Collection

Scott Leonard and Gary Walker from the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Observatory (MMO) delivered a collection of more than 8,000 astronomical photographic plates to PARI on Thursday, November 17th. The collection, which also includes scanned images and logs, is valued at $600,000. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of the delivery. PARI staff and volunteers helped unload and file the plates. The collection includes images taken since 1913. The fact that MMO chose to locate this collection here is further evidence of how PARI and APDA are gaining reputation in the field. The photo at the right is an image from one of the plates of M24 - a view of part of the summertime Milky Way and was taken 46 years ago.

PARI Staff Picks Up Another Plate Collection from USNO

Research Director Michael Castelaz and APDA Director Thurburn Barker went to Washington, DC on October 23-25 to receive an astronomical photographic plate collection from the US Naval Observatory. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of their trip. APDA received 32,341 plates with this collection. Dating back about 100 years, the plates make up one-half of the USNO's plate collection used to measure the distances to nearby stars. This is the thrid collection PARI has received from the USNO.

PARI Records a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake

On Tuesday, August 23rd at 1:51 pm PARI's seismometer recorded a Magnitude 5.8 earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was 38 miles northwest Richmond, VA. PARI's phones began ringing immediately after the earthquake with people asking about the event. Details of the earthquake are listed on the US Geological Survey (USGS) website at VIRGINIA EARTHQUAKE. Click SEISMOMETER READING to see the record of the event recorded on PARI's seismometer. Click LIVE READINGS to see the up to the minute live streaming data. WLOS, ABC 13 reporter Megan Schiering came to PARI and interviewed Michael Castelaz and Lamar Owen for a story about the event. Click EARTHQUAKE STORY to see a clip of the news report.

NASA "FIREBALL" Workshop Held at PARI

PARI hosted the NASA Meteor Video Observations and Analysis Workshop on Thursday and Friday, August 4th and 5th. Scientists and experts in the field from around the world attended. The workshop was conducted by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Meteoroid Environment Office and featured many speakers and presentations on observing, recording and analyzing meteoroids. NASA scientist, Dr. Bill Cooke, lead the two-day workshop. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from the workshop. Several Attendees were interested in our Harvard Meteor - Lost City Meteorite documents and films. Click IMAGES AND ARTICLES to see that material.

PARI featured in Everyone's Universe Book

PARI was listed in the recently published book, Everyone's Universe - A Guide to Accessible Astronomy Places. The book, by Noreen Grice, lists observatories that make viewing the sky accessible to everyone. Click PHOTOS to see the listing. PARI is proud to have been listed and to have recently hosted several groups including visitors with special needs.

Volunteers Make PARI Work to Accomplish our Mission

PARI is fortunate to have a number of dedicated volunteers who help with many important tasks at PARI. On Saturday, February 26th several volunteers came to PARI to help lay new cables in the Cline Adminsitration Building and to construct a Wildlife Photography Blind. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from that Volunteer Day. Another example of a very important volunteer project is the PARI GALAXY WALK, which was recently refurbished. Also, the Friends of PARI are responsible for one of our very important optical telescopes called PARI SKY. To find our more about volunteering at PARI contact Friends of PARI President John Boehme at jboehme@pari.edu or our Director of Education Christi Whitworth at cwhitworth@pari.edu.

Astronomers from Czech Republic Doing Research at PARI

Astronomers Rene Hudec and Lukas Hudec, visiting scientist from the Czech Republic, are returning to PARI next month to follow-up on their research on the spectra of stars and galaxies using photographic images in the PARI Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA). Dr. Hudec is using the results in combination with data to be taken by the European Space Agency GAIA Space Telescope to be launched in 2012. Dr. Hudec recently published an article in the Czech public journal, 3POL, using the data from his visits to PARI. This is their fourth visit to our campus. Click PHOTOS to see pictures from their previous visit.

Transylvania Times Thanks PARI for Service to the Community 

An editorial in the Transylvania Times newspaper thanked PARI for meeting our mission. They wrote, "Ten years ago that facility was taken over by the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, better known as PARI. Since that time PARI has had nothing but a beneficial effect on the community." Click EDITORIAL to read the complete text of the article. Congratulations to the entire PARI staff, including our great partners from Avant Communications, who have helped us spread the word of the good works of PARI. And we especially thank Don & Jo Cline for their many years of support.

Photos of the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

Located on the site of the former NASA Rosman Tracking Station in the Pisgah National Forest, PARI offers an unparalleled opportunity for people of all ages to experience the wonders of scientific research first hand. Click PHOTOS to see pictures of PARI taken at various times throughout the year.