Twenty minutes east of Boone, at the end of a twisting gravel road, a team of university researchers peer into the cosmos to learn more about the distant stars. Perched atop an especially dark mountain and driven by a desire to understand the universe we live in, Appalachian State’s Dark Sky Observatory is a tribute to the quality of the local scientific community.
Established in 1981, the observatory was built largely by hand. ASU professor and astronomer Dan Caton emphasized the resourcefulness that was key to launching such an ambitious project.
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