The MARS (Madison Astronomical Research Station) observatory is a collaboration with the Madison County School System (in North Carolina) and two members of The Astronomy Club of Asheville to establish an on-campus observatory at the Madison Middle School. Our mission is to provide students in grades 6-12 opportunities to explore our night sky using professional astronomical equipment.

We plan to accomplish this by holding classes at MARS, which is a 10-foot dome structure built to hold an observatory-grade telescope. Beyond classes, we will hold monthly community outreach observing events, generating another pathway for the community to connect with astronomy.  

Our hope for this project is to advance access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to students and the local community. Our goal is to raise $7,500 to equip the existing dome structure with an observatory-grade telescope, a computer-controlled mount, and a support pier.