Purposes
The CAO facility was constructed and instrumented over the last five years, as a collaboration between Boise State University, the Custer County community, and the Bureau of Land Management.
CAO was designed for community involvement, educational use, and professional research. The research program currently emphasizing nightly optical photometry of flaring blazars – supermassive black holes detected up to Tera electron-volt energies – has been active since summer 2010. The scientific research program is designed to be integrated with educational programs. Observing time not related to primary research will be devoted to public outreach and education projects. We expect that CAO will have a strong positive impact on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education efforts in Idaho.
Sponsors
Partnerships
Boise State University
Cities of Stanley and Challis
Custer Economic Development
Custer County
Bureau of Land Management - Challis
Challis School District #181
Individual Contributors
Ray Martin
Steve Knopp
Nick Waite
Julia Norris
Tony Gilliam
Ron Gassman
Bob Myers
Luther Hartshorn
Dave Rosenkrance
Funders & Contributors
Steele Reese Foundation
Idaho Department Commerce
Regional Development Alliance
NASA
Gene Westergard Construction
Surefire Small Engine
Allied Builders
Thompson Creek Mine
Hecla Mines
Syringa Networks
Custer Telephone Co-op
Salmon River Electric Co-op
Robinson Electric
First Fruits Foundation
Carole Klein Foundation
The Hub