SETI League Photo Gallery

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Nestled in the mountains of Pisgah National Forest, NC, The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute 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. Pre-college through post-graduate students will have the opportunity to work and learn with full time and visiting astronomers. SETI League photo

Security warnings such as this one hint at the origin of the PARI facility, once a National Security Agency satellite tracking site. Acquired by SETI League member Don Cline in 1999, PARI is now home to the world's largest privately owned radio telescopes. SETI League photo

More than thirty amateur and professional radio astronomers, academics, and students gathered at PARI in August 2001, for the Institute's first Small Radio Telescope Conference. Seven SETI League members were in attendance. SETI League photo

PARI president Don Cline shows off the control room, from which the facility's two 26-meter diameter fully steerable dishes can be operated. SETI League photo

Dr. Michael Castelaz, PARI's Director of Astronomical Studies and Education, organized the three-day Small Radio Telescope Conference, and also presented a paper on his current "Internet Classroom" project, the School of Galactic Radio Astronomy. SETI League photo

Well known radio amateur and microwave experimenter Charles Osborne, PARI's Technical Director, shows off the fiber-optic network interconnecting the facility's dozen buildings and five main radio telescopes. SETI League photo

The main time and frequency reference for the entire facility is this rack consisting of atomic clocks, GPS clocks, and slaved reference oscillators. SETI League photo

Once used for rapid satellite tracking, the West 85-foot dish has been retrofitted with sidereal tracking motors. It has feeds and receivers for 340 MHz, 1420 MHz, 3334 MHz, 4829 MHz, 6668 MHz, 12.178 GHz, and 14.5 GHz. SETI League photo

This 4.6 meter dish, known as "Smiley," will soon be remotely controllable and accessible via the Internet, for use by students worldwide. Its receive capabilities include 1420 MHz, 3.73 GHz, 6.668 GHz, 12.178 GHz, and 14.5 GHz. SETI League photo

Participants in the 2001 Small Radio Telescope Conference tour the facilities. The building behind them houses PARI's portable, inflatable planetarium, used for outreach programs to local schools. SETI League photo

"26-West" parked at zenith. It can be used as an interferometer inconjunction with its twin, "26-East" (seen below). The two instruments can be pointed to within 3 mintues of arc. SETI League photo

The Eastern 26-meter telescope has feeds and receivers for 148 MHz, 1420 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3730 MHz, and 12.178 GHz. SETI League photo

PARI founder and president Don Cline, a lifelong radio amateur and former Bell Laboratories engineer, poses in front of "26 East". SETI League photo

This radome houses the PARI 12.2-meter radio telescope, with surface accuracy suitable for use at millimeter wavelengths. SETI League photo

Inside the radome, one can see prime-focus feeds mounted to the 12-meter telescope for the 3.73 and 12.178 GHz bands. SETI League photo

The surface of the PARI 12-meter radio telescope. Note that the metal supports for the radome are asymetrical, so as to avoid resonances which might increase its losses. SETI League photo

Closeup of the drive mechanism for the 12-meter radio telescope. The cab behind the reflector surface originally housed receivers and transmitters. SETI League photo

The panorama looking Northwest from the PARI Optical Ridge encompasses "26 West"... SETI League photo

...while looking to the Northeast from the Optical Ridge, the view is dominated by "26 East". SETI League photo

With a long enough lens from the Optical Ridge, one gets a good view of "Smiley", with the entrance road and security guardhouse behind it. SETI League photo

Still atop the Optical Ridge, the camera can zoom in on "26 West", still parked at zenith... SETI League photo

... as well as "26 East". This ridge is not merely a good vantage point for viewing the radio telescopes; it is also home to PARI's optical telescopes. SETI League photo

This dome atop the Optical Ridge houses a 20 cm telescope being used by the University of North Carolina to conduct a three-year automated search for eclipsing binary brown dwarfs. SETI League photo

These cross-polarized log periodic HF antennas (also viewed from the Optical Ridge) are used for observing Jupiter's decametric waves, as well as solar radiation. SETI League photo

The PARI Optical Ridge has room and mounting points for quite a few additional optical telescopes. SETI League photo

SETI League executive director H. Paul Shuch enjoys the view from the PARI Optical Ridge at the 2001 Small Radio Telescope Conference. SETI League photo

Click here for lots more pictures.

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