“Quit looking down at your feet. Look up at the wonder and majesty of the universe you live in. And turn off your lights.”
This is the admonition Tom Burns, director of Perkins Observatory, gives when visitors stop by the Ohio Wesleyan University-owned facility in Delaware.
Founded in 1927, Perkins is today dedicated to teaching, whether it be Wesleyan students and faculty or the tens of thousands of curious stargazers it draws each year.
The observatory is named for Hiram Mills Perkins, a Civil War veteran and a professor of math and astronomy. Perkins spent 15 years planning the facility but never got to see it come to fruition, as he died shortly after ground was broken.
For a long time, the observatory’s crowning glory was its state-of-the-art, 69-inch telescope mirror. Upon its installation in 1931, it was the third-largest in the world. But that telescope was moved to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., and replaced with a 32-inch mirror telescope in 1961 because of problems presented by low elevation, frequent cloud cover and – in particular – light pollution from surrounding areas.
“I fight that battle every day,” Burns says. “It’s a matter of talking with people planning developments. I show them that they can use lights that are good for Perkins as well.”
The observatory’s legacy is also bolstered by its connection to Sky & Telescope, one of the foremost astronomy magazines in the U.S. Perkins was the original publisher of The Telescope, which merged with The Sky in 1941.
Burns has been director of the observatory since 1993. An avid astronomy enthusiast since he first gazed at the moon’s craters through his father’s $3 binoculars, Burns – who had given more than 5,000 astronomy lectures and seminars before becoming director – has turned his passions for astronomy and for the observatory into a driving force for its promotion and success.
“I was the only person qualified for the position who could stand up in front of screaming third-graders,” he says.
Burns is also a professor at Wesleyan.
There are plenty of opportunities to get a closer look at Perkins. There are public programs almost every Friday night, all year long, and one Thursday a month, Perkins holds its New Vistas in Astronomy series, where one can both observe through the Schottland reflecting telescope and stay current about the newest discoveries and breakthroughs in the field of astronomy.
The observatory also hosts programs and tours for children and school trips, and the Columbus Astronomical Society holds its meetings there the second Saturday of each month.
Taylor Woodhouse is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
