This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This award will permit the renovation of the Research Building of the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI). This facility is located in rural North Carolina at the former NASA Rosman Tracking site, which dates back to the 1960s. The renovation consists of several sub-projects, namely nonstructural repairs to a leaky roof, repairing the HVAC, repairing and renovating electrical generation equipment, renovating the fire alarm and equipment monitoring system, renovating the telecommunications system, and repairing the associated antenna structures for two 26-meter radio antennae.
PARI's mission is to provide research space for scientists, students, and non-professionals. Current research focuses on radio surveys of the Milky Way Galaxy, various projects in time-domain astrophysics, and studies of the wind speeds in the upper atmosphere of the Earth. The radio observations are conducted on-site using two 26-meter radio telescopes. The facility is host to a large and growing collection of astronomical glass plates, which are being digitized and cataloged for use in time-domain studies.
PARI provides research opportunities to university faculty and students, citizen scientists, and K-12 students. PARI is a member of the NSF supported North Carolina Math and Science Education Network and the North Carolina Alliance to Create Opportunity Through Education. Its location in rural North Carolina provides a unique opportunity for science research and education in an under-served part of the country.
This project addressed the need to renovate the science research building of a successful non-profit research institution to conduct unique research and provide a training ground for the next generation of scientists. When The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) acquired the 200-acre site of the former NASA Rosman Tracking station in 1998, it began the journey of upgrading instruments and developing science education and outreach programs to provide a broad range of professors, students and amateur scientists with the real opportunity for hands-on research. Much of PARI’s infrastructure dates back to the early 1960’s. The site was built to exacting standards and multiple redundancies of key systems to ensure successful communications for the early NASA missions. Research and research training activities are conducted on PARI’s campus through our Research Building which houses the Radio Frequency Laboratory (RF Lab), the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA), the Aeronomy Program Center (APC), and lab space for short-term projects conducted by our Research Associates. This 18,000 square foot two-story building was in need of repair and renovation in order to enhance the research and research training opportunities. Areas addressed and completed by this grant included: repairing the leaky roof, repairing and recommissioning the HVAC, repairing and renovating the electrical generation equipment, and repairing the antenna structures for PARI’s two flagship 26-m radio telescopes. These repairs and renovations vastly improved the efficiency of the research experience by users by providing a safer and more up-to-date facility. A further result on completion of the grant is the expansion of the PARI data center in the Research Building to manage the research work products being conducted in the Research Building. This has attracted increased private support from several corporations. Intellectual Merit Major long-term research projects including NSF-supported research, are currently being conducted at PARI by professors from several universities from around the United States. The research is coordinated on PARI’s campus through our Research Building. PARI hosts four long-term major research programs, as well as short term (1-3 year) research programs often associated with testbed instrumentation or astronomical/aeronomical observation campaigns. One long term project is the only project in the world dedicating the use of PARI’s 26-m radio telescopes to observations of a small nebulae which are a component of the Milky Way Galaxy. Another project focuses on time domain astronomy, where about one hundred years of astronomical images are digitized, and the information used to study long term variations in astronomical objects and the nature of non-stellar components of the Galaxy. A third project is studying the Earth’s upper atmosphere, measuring wind speeds and temperatures using an optical etalon interferometer installed in a small research outbuilding on the PARI campus. A fourth long term project monitors changes in the period of rotation of neutron stars – stars that are remnants of supernova explosions. This project shares one of the 26-m radio telescopes. As these major projects continue, other smaller, or shorter projects are set up at PARI and required a state-of-the-art research building. Broader Impact PARI is a science laboratory where the blend of research, education and public outreach combine to make scientific inquiry and training available to users from leading edge research scientists to virtually anyone with an inquiring mind. In addition to university professors, graduate and undergraduate students who use of the facility, research opportunities are open to K-12 students, especially minority students through several NSF sponsored programs, private foundation support and other university programs. A primary component of these projects includes an educational emphasis on increasing minority interest in careers in science by hosting summer undergraduate interns. Additionally, by making our research data available, on-line through the internet, we have implemented a "Citizen Scientist" program using data from the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA) located in the Research Building. Presentations 1) Cameron Lemley et al., American Astronomical Society (AAS) 2013 Session 342.01. "Mapping the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex in Radio Frequencies" 2) Michael W. Castelaz et al. AAS 2013, Session 246.12. 2012 "Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute" 3) J. D. Cline et al AAS 2013, Session 340.02. "Meeting Archival Standards in the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive at PARI" 4) Emma Taylor et al. AAS 2013 Session 353.07. "Observations of NEO 2002 AM31" 5) American Geophysical Union Fall 2012 Meeting 2012. Jonathan J. Makela et al. presented "SA22A-06. Mid-latitude thermospheric dynamics as observed by the North American Thermosphere-Ionosphere Observing Network of imaging Fabry-Perot interferometers" in the session entitled "SA22A. SA22A. Do We Understand E and F Region Ion-Neutral Momentum Coupling?" 6) Herbert Mehnert, et al. 2012 AAS "Analysis Of The Morphology Of Comets Using Photometry: C/2009P1 Garrad And P1/Halley" 7) J. D. Cline et al. AAS. "The Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute" 8) APDA was featured on the TV show KQED QUEST
