PERKINS OBSERVATORY

Perkins Observatory is primarily a research and teaching centre for professors and students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio Wesleyan University. However, it offers very successful public programs, both during the day and in the evening, for those interested in astronomy. It was in 1861, during the Civil War, that a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Wesleyan University, Hiram Mills Perkins, left his teaching position to join the Union Army. Considered too weak, he was declared unfit and returned to the family farm to work as a pig farmer in order to feed the Union's troops. After the war, he resumed his teaching work until his retirement, not without thinking about his great project, that of creating an astronomical observatory with the finances he had accumulated. It took him 15 years to build it, and he conscientiously wrote the plans for an observatory to be located in central Ohio. Initially intended to be modest in size, Perkins' fortune allowed him to think bigger and make his observatory a world-class facility. In 1923, when he was 90 years old, he witnessed with great emotion the laying of the first stone.... Unfortunately, he died shortly afterwards, without ever seeing his dream come true. The local legend tells us that his ghost still haunts the site today, so disappointed not to have been there. The observatory was built by the Warner & Swasey Company of Ohio, which had built many large observatories at the time, including the one at Yerkes near Chicago, home to the world's largest astronomical telescope. The main telescope is 1.75 m in diameter and sees its first light in 1931: it is then the third largest in the world. Unfortunately, the site on which it is located has deteriorated considerably over the years and due to the proliferation of city lights. In addition, the low altitude of the site combined with very average weather conditions make this telescope quite limited in terms of performance. For this reason, in 1961, the Perkins telescope was moved to Arizona, integrating the prestigious Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. The telescope that replaces it is smaller (810 mm). Over the years, many famous astronomers have come to Perkins. In 1932, the director of the observatory launched a small, unpretentious magazine on astronomy. It is called The Telescope and deals mainly with research conducted at Perkins. However, it later broadened its editorial line to reach a wider audience. In 1941, it merged with another astronomy magazine called The Sky, to become the famous Sky & Telescope magazine, which is now well known and appreciated by amateur astronomers around the world.

If the observatory is now developing its outreach programs (guided tours, thematic tours, observation evenings, etc.) so much, it is because its funding has been greatly undermined in recent years following the termination of grants from Ohio State University. Visiting the site, and participating in the proposed activities, is therefore a good way to help ensure the sustainability of the establishment.