News

Moon turns day into night

Visitors at PARI view the total solar eclipse.

By Bill Moss, Published: August 21, 2017

ROSMAN — The moon blocked the sun on Monday afternoon, briefly turning day into night, in an astronomical show that was totality awesome.
Hundreds of people who gathered at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute did some wishing, some groaning and some cheering as intermittent cloud cover veiled the once-in-a-life time view. But in the end everyone got a good look at the moon entering the sun’s path and then emerging out the other side.
“Pretty spectacular,” said Anthony Love, a research associate at PARI and geologist from Appalachian State University. “As somebody who studies meteorites and other planets for a living, it’s amazing to see.”
The event at PARI, which included presentations on astronomy and eclipse history and shuttle ride to the mountaintop Optical Ridge for the celestial show, was a gift to the skywatchers from Don Cline, the owner of PARI.
“His mission is to make accessible to the masses, and I can’t imagine a better way to do that than what he’s put together today.”
Built in the early 1960s as NASA’s east coast satellite tracking station, the facility was turned over to the Department of Defense in 1981 and was used to collect sensitive satellite tracking before closing in 1994. In 1998 Don Cline and his wife, Jo, bought the satellite station. Since that time the Clines and donors have poured more than $25 million into improvements in the science education center.
Cline provided both the play-by-play and color commentary of the event, repeatedly reminding guests not to look at the sun without protective eyewear, explaining wind direction and cloud movement and pointing out a blimp and hot air balloon that were conducting scientific experiments.
The skies grew cloudy after the eclipse started. A cloud cover as the sun emerged from the moon’s shadow made for a good photo opp.
The sky was not pitch black during 100 seconds of totality but dark like late dusk. The wind came up and it got cooler for the 100-second duration of the blackout.
“We captured a lot of data. We’ll have to look at and we’ll be publishing it and it will be on our website,” Cline said. “As you can see, it makes for some good photographs with the clouds. I’m glad to share this facility and to have a place for people to come see this — people of all ages."

He made a pitch for science fans to help fund the institute.

"A lot of people think we’re funded by the government because they were for so long," he said.
“PARI is the only place in the world where the total eclipse will occur directly over some of the most advanced astronomical equipment in the world: two 26-meter radio telescopes, a 4.6-meter radio telescope and a 12-meter radio telescope,” the organization said. “Because of this unique convergence, PARI will be able to conduct scientific study of a total eclipse that has never before been possible.”