by NIKKI ROBERTI
Lifestyles Reporter

Twenty miles outside of Boone resides the Dark Sky Observatory where professors like Richard Gray of the physics and astronomy department conduct research.

Gray is currently working on the Nearby Star Project, which looks at solar stars within 130 light years.

The funding came from NASA to compile a database of these nearby stars which can include as many as 3,600.

“In cooperation with other teams, we have done important things like the database with the Nearby Star Project with other astronomers,” Gray said. “That’s how astronomy works these days. It’s not an individual observing through a telescope who makes the discovery, but rather the team.”

Appalachian also works in cooperation with the University of Arizona and the California Institute of Technology.   

Dark Sky contains a 32-inch telescope, one of the largest telescopes in Western North Carolina, Gray said.

“As far as observatories in North Carolina, it’s possibly the best,” Gray said. “There may be an observatory with the same size, but not at the best site.”

Students typically use the 16-inch telescope in the dome on top of the Rankin Science Building, but light pollution from the town can hinder observations.

Assistant physics and astronomy professor Jon M. Saken works with Gray on his research and has had students help with the research.

“People don’t learn just by sitting passively with knowledge being pumped into their heads in a classroom,” Saken said. “They learn by doing. It builds a deeper connection.”

To Gray, the experience advanced students receive working alongside observers at Dark Sky is invaluable.

Students can even become co-authors of papers, which looks good when applying to graduate school, Gray said. 

At times, Saken will spend 15 hours straight at Dark Sky. 

“Time allocation committees tend to allocate more time to the hot, sexy topics in astronomy. Cutting edge ideas can be harder to get time,” Saken said. “[At Dark Sky] I can get there and try something that might not be so successful initially and no one will be standing over my shoulder.”

Saken said many astronomers at larger observatories may only get to use their telescope a couple times a year and since time is so scarce, long term projects focusing on observing one specific object or star would be virtually impossible.

There are at least 10 projects currently taking place at the observatory.

“We fill an important niche in the field of astronomy,” Saken said.

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