Перкинсова обсерватория: история телескопа и судьба астрономических исследований.

Perkins Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned and operated by Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1931 it had the third largest telescope in the World; the 69 inch aperture Perkins telescope came online at this observatory. The mirror was the largest cast in the United States up to that time, and it was made by the United States National Bureau of Standards.

Central Ohio is not, as it turns out, a particularly good location for an astronomical research telescope. The low elevation and generally cloudy weather conspired to frustrate most astronomers using the telescope. More troublesome, the cities of Columbus, Ohio to the south and Delaware, Ohio to the north were both growing. Light pollution therefore became increasingly problematic. So in 1961 the Perkins Telescope was moved to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell is the largest private observatory (non university or government affiliated) in the world. Through the end of the 20th century, the Perkins Telescope was the observatory's largest instrument. Observing time on this instrument was shared between Lowell astronomers and the Ohio State University. The telescope at Perkins was immediately replaced with a cassegrain reflector telescope. It was donated by Michael R. Schottland, an entrepreneur from Martinsville, Virginia. At that time it was the largest privately owned telescope in the United States. Currently it is one of the three largest telescopes in Ohio. In 1964, three years after the Perkins Telescope arrived at Lowell Observatory, the mirror was replaced. A new mirror made of a more modern material was installed in the old mount. The old mirror was loaned to COSI in Columbus as an exhibit. (Eventually the 69 inch was returned to Perkins by the year 1999)

Part of the arrangement between OSU, OWU, and Lowell Observatory called for Ohio State to continue to fund operations at Perkins Observatory. This included maintaining the building, the library, and the monthly public programs. However, over the following decades, without a research instrument on site, interest in Perkins Observatory within the Ohio State University Astronomy Department declined. The on site staff shrank until there was just a part time secretary and a building superintendent who had only a small maintenance budget. Few of the observatory's Directors (employees of OSU) spent much time at the observatory. There was not even enough money in the budget to maintain subscriptions to prominent astronomy magazines for the Observatory's library. For some years a small dome detached and separated from the main observatory building housed a 0.6 meter f1.8 Schmidt telescope. In 1990 this instrument was moved to Lowell Observatory and extensively refurbished using funding from NASA. In 1993 this new instrument came online as the LONEOS system to detect near Earth asteroids. However, at the time Perkins Observatory received no compensation for use of this instrument. At Ohio Wesleyan University, unfortunately, interest in Perkins Observatory also waned. Little concern was shown toward maintaining the historic property. An endowment fund of approximately $90,000 left by Hiram Perkins in his will (intended to fund observatory operations and the Director's salary) disappeared somewhere into the OWU's general endowment fund. Worst of all, most of the land surrounding the observatory was sold to developers. Of a sizable initial plot, by 1990 only remained. (A golf course was built on the sold off property, which later also swallowed up the Big Ear radio telescope.)

In the 1990s, Tom Burns, a member of the Columbus Astronomical Society and professor of English at the Ohio Wesleyan University, became Director of Perkins Observatory. He greatly expanded the Observatory's public programs and visibility in the central Ohio area. A collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship was also established with the Columbus Astronomical Society. (In exchange for monthly meeting space and observatory access the CAS provides volunteer assistance with the many public programs.) Major repairs to the observatory dome were undertaken, thanks to the profits made from the sale of eclipse viewing glasses for the 1994 solar eclipse. Unused office and storage space was converted into exhibit rooms, a children's play area and a small gift shop. In September 1999 the original telescope mirror was retrieved from COSI (where it had been sitting in a closet for over a decade) and placed on display. In 1998 the Ohio State University formally ended its relationship with Ohio Wesleyan University and Perkins Observatory. OSU withdrew from the 1935 agreement so it could apply its financial resources to purchasing time on the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham. The telescope was sold outright to Lowell Observatory by Ohio Wesleyan. (The proceeds of this sale went into the Perkins Observatory Endowment Fund.) Staff members who were technically Ohio State University employees started receiving their paychecks from OWU.

Currently, regular observing programs are held almost every Friday and Saturday night throughout the year. Programs are held on other evenings and during the day by special appointment. A monthly lecture series detailing various current topics in astronomy is ongoing. Occasional special events (like telescope fairs, celebrity guest lecturers, and viewings of unusual astronomical events) are also sponsored and organized by Perkins. (Thousands of people visited the observatory to see comet Hale Bopp in 1997. Each time a notable solar eclipse is visible from Central Ohio, several thousand pairs of eclipse glasses are distributed and educational school programs scheduled. Ed Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory and John Dobson, inventor of the Dobsonian telescope, have both visited and lectured at Ohio Wesleyan thanks to Perkins sponsorship.) Perkins Observatory is now the most visible and most reliable source of information related to astronomy and space exploration in central Ohio. Television stations, newspapers, other local science museums, and members of the general public rely on Professor Burns and his staff to answer questions, provide perspective, make media appearances and dispel astronomical misconceptions.