Perkins Observatory - Perkins - The Difficult Years

The Difficult Years

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 69-inch (1.8 m) 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 69-inch (1.8 m) telescope at Perkins was immediately replaced with a 32-inch (810 mm) cassegrain reflector telescope. It was donated by Dr. Michael Schottland, a veterinarian from Virginia. At that time it was the largest privately owned amateur 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 69-inch (1.8 m) mirror was replaced. A new 72-inch (1.8 m) mirror made of a more modern material was installed in the old mount. The old 69-inch (1.8 m) mirror was loaned to COSI in Columbus as an exhibit.

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 16 acres (65,000 m2) remained. (A golf course was built on the sold off property, which later also swallowed up the Big Ear radio telescope.)