1. Further Advancements of the PARI Optical Ridge Telescopes for Education and Public Outreach M. W. Castelaz, J. D. Cline Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute www.pari.edu AAS 203rd Meeting. 8 January 2004. Session 118.04 Reaching Out: EPO A Not-For-Profit Public Foundation

2. Introduction Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit public foundation dedicated to providing research and educational access to radio and optical astronomy for a broad cross- section of users. PARI is located on 200 acres in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina The PARI campus is relatively free of light and radio interference. N

3. PARI Optical Ridge Location: Optical observatories are 500 m from the PARI Main Campus and runs East-West with sharp N-S drop-offs Altitude 910 m, Latitude 35 O 11.8’ N, Longitude 82 O 52.3’ W Horizon: Lowest point is 0.25 O and highest point is 5 O Skies: Average of three nights per week for spectroscopy, differential photometry, astrometry Ideal for long-term and survey work

4. 8. Polaris (PARI) PARI Optical Observatories 6. Low Mass Binary Star Survey (UNC-Chapel Hill) N 1. Optical Afterglow Gamma Ray Burst (UNC-Chapel Hill) 2. Stellar (PARI) 5. SPACE (PARI Supporters) 3,4. Atmosphere, Solar & Lunar 7. Webcams (PARI) 9. Wide Field 1.1 m Telescope (Future) Latitude 35 O 11.8’ N, Longitude 82 O 52.3’ W, Altitude 910 m 10. University 0.5 m Telescope (Future)

5. 1.Near-Infrared Afterglow Gamma Ray Burst Principal Investigators: Melissa Nysewonger and Dan Reichart (UNC-Chapel Hill) Telescope: 0.30 m, f/10, 68.7 arcsec/mm Camera: Cooled Indigo Systems Alpha NIR InGaAs CCD Mode of Operation: Robotic/Remote Education: Observatory for use by high school teachers and students. In collaboration with Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill. Also, doctoral candidate thesis research. Research: Investigate infrared wavelengths of GRBs to find emission from dark bursts, called "dark" because they have no detectable optical afterglow

6. Near-Infrared Afterglow Gamma Ray Burst CCD Camera: Near-IR, 0.9-1.7 um 320 x 256 pixels 30 um square pixels 12-bit A/D FOV: 10.3 arcmin x 8.8 arcmin 2.0 arcsec/pix

7. 2. Stellar Observatory Principal Investigators: D. Cline & M. Castelaz (PARI) Telescope: 0.30 m, f/10, 68.7 arcsec/mm Camera: SBIG ST10XME + BVRI, SBIG Self-Guiding Spectrometer with 600 g/mm gratings Mode of Operation: Remote Education: Undergraduate research experiences observing and modeling of Mira variable spectra. Research: Five year observation campaign measuring optical low resolution spectra (120 Å/mm) and photometry covering complete light curves of four Mira variables.

8. Stellar Observatory CCD Camera: 2184 x 1472 pixels 6.8 um square pixels 16-bit, 9 e - rms FOV: 17.1 arcmin x 11.5 arcmin 0.47 arcsec/pix

9. 3. Atmosphere Principal Investigators: Cline (PARI) Telescope: 12.7 cm, f/10, 162 arcsec/mm Camera: SBIG STV Mode of Operation: Robotic Education: Environmental studies students have access to atmospheric conditions. The conditions are published to the internet. Research: Continuously monitor seeing and atmospheric transparency in the Pisgah National Forest.

10. 4. Solar & Lunar Principal Investigators: Cline & Castelaz Telescope: 12.7 cm, f/3.3 with focal reducer, 535 arcsec/mm Camera: SBIG STV Mode of Operation: Robotic Education: General public and K-12 science studies from live images of the Sun and Moon Research: Record sunspots

11. Atmosphere and Solar/Lunar Telescopes Solar/Lunar Atmosphere Each CCD Camera: 656 x 480 pixels 7.4 um square pixels 16-bit FOV: 15.8 arcmin x 9.6 arcmin 1.2 arcsec/pix FOV with f/3.3 focal reducer: 52.1 arcmin x 31.7 arcmin 4 arcsec/pix

12. 5. Supporters of the PARI Astronomy Center for Education (SPACE Observatory) Principal Investigators: Joe Phillips Telescope: 0.25 m, f/10, 82.5 arcsec/mm Camera: SBIG ST7XME Mode of Operation: Remote Education: Supporters of PARI and amateur astronomers use this telescope remotely, on a subscription basis. Research: PARI has access for target- of-opportunity events such as gamma ray bursts.

13. CCD Camera: 756 x 510 pixels 9 um square pixels 16-bit, 15 e - rms SPACE Observatory FOV: 9.5 arcmin x 6.3 arcmin 0.74 arcsec/pix

14. 6. Low Mass Binary Star Survey Principal Investigators: Mercedes Lopez-Morales, Chris Clemens (UNC-Chapel Hill) Telescope: 0.24 m, f/10, 103 arcsec/mm Camera: Apogee Ap-10 + VRI filters Mode of Operation: Robotic Education: Doctoral candidate thesis research. Research: Three-year optical survey to find detached low mass eclipsing binaries and use them to make direct measurements of masses and radii.

15. Low Mass Binary Star Survey CCD Camera: 2048 x 2048 pixels 14 um square pixels 14-bit, 15 e - rms FOV: 47 arcmin x 31 arcmin 1.4 arcsec/pix

16. 7. Webcams Principal Investigators: PARI Staff Telescope: Telescopes are video lenses Camera: Each position is a CCD video camera Mode of Operation: Robotic Education: Eight Webcams show the PARI campus and observatories and sky conditions live at www.pari.edu. Research: These cameras are for education/public outreach.

17. 8. Polaris (PARI) Principal Investigators: Cline & Castelaz Telescope: 0.25 m, f/6.3, 130.9 arcsec/mm Camera: SBIG STV + BVRI filters Mode of Operation: Robotic Education: Undergraduate research experiences observing the light curve of Polaris. Research: Dedicated to multi-year, continuous phase coverage photometry of Polaris, a Cepheid with variations in period and minimum & maximum amplitude.

18. Polaris Observatory CCD Camera: 656 x 480 pixels 7.4 um square pixels 16-bit FOV: 10.6 arcmin x 7.8 arcmin 0.97 arcsec/pix

19. 9. Wide Field 1.1 m Telescope Principal Investigators: PLANNED: PARI Telescope: 1.1 m f/4.4 prime focus Camera: TBD … telescope has 150mm dia. flat field Mode of Operation: Remote Education: 1.All data to be published on Internet for education/public outreach. 2.Also, undergraduate and graduate research. Research: 1.Near-Earth Asteroid Monitoring 2.Supernova Survey 3.Gamma-Ray burst follow-up 4.Spectrographic measurements

20. 10. University Remote Principal Investigators: PLANNED: Consortium Telescope: 0.50 m Camera: TBD Mode of Operation: Remote Education: 1.Undergraduate research 2.Classroom use Research: Dedicated to use by universities that invest in the observatory for their astronomy students and faculty.