PARI has obtained a mirror and completed the system design for a 1.1 meter (44-inch) f/4.4 telescope system.  When completed, the telescope will be one of the largest on the East Coast and will be used for several tasks:

• The search for Near Earth Objects (NEO).  NEOs are rocks orbiting the Sun that cross into Earth’s orbit, sometimes approaching as close as the Moon.  The PARI NEO telescope would complete a worldwide network of seven other telescopes located in the Western U.S., Japan, and Europe.
• Observations of gamma ray bursts with the unique capability to make simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric measurements.
• Telescope time for the astronomical community for other studies, such as supernova searches and terrestrial atmospheric research being conducted by astronomers in North Carolina and the Southeastern U.S.

Plans for this telescope include a prime focus camera with a six-inch diameter flat field image at the focus plane (1.25 degree sky diameter) corrected field of view, a fiber-fed spectrograph and offset guiders.  An open structure optical tube telescope mount manufactured by DFM Engineering will be customized for the PARI 1.1 meter mirror.  The telescope is designed for remote use.

The PARI 1.1 meter telescope will be the only telescope system in the Eastern United States dedicated to the NEO survey.  It will have the widest field of view of any NEO telescope and will be capable of simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations.  Since monitoring will be done by looking for motion relative to background stars, observations can be made even in partly cloudy weather.

To date, PARI has invested $400,000 into developing the telescope.  Additional funding of approximately $2 million is needed to complete the project.