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T. English, A. Martin, D. Herrick (GTCC), D. Cline (PARI)
The Cline Observatory at the Jamestown, NC campus of Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) was dedicated in 1997. It is the only such facility in the community college systems of the Carolinas. GTCC employs two astronomy faculty and offers multiple sections of introductory courses.
The facility utilizes a 16-inch Meade LX-200 under a 6-meter dome, along with accessories for digital imaging and basic spectroscopic studies. An outside observing pad with permanent piers allows smaller instruments to be set up for sessions.
In addition to supporting introductory and basic observational astronomy classes, the observatory provides regular outreach programs to serve a variety of constituencies. Public viewings are held once a week; school and community groups schedule visits throughout the year; special lectures bring the latest astronomical topics to the public; and annual conferences are hosted for regional amateur astronomers and for faculty/students from NC academic/research institutions.
Volunteer support staff for such programs has been developed through partnership with the local astronomy club and through training via the observational astronomy course.
Our courses and outreach programs have been very popular and successful, and the observatory now serves as a focal point of GTCC’s public image.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://technet.gtcc.cc.nc.us/comserv/cline/cline.htm. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: englisht@gtcc.cc.nc.us
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.