Tom Jonard, Amateur Astonomer

The RadObs always survived on a shoestring budget.  The story of its construction is very interesting and can be found in a book named Big Ear.  The author and genius of the RadObs – John Kraus – tells how it was built with student labor and a minimum budget.  The fact thar John Kraus was an electrical engineer and theorist in antenna design probably doomed the project to the backwaters of science despite its enormous physical size and potential.  The Astronomy Department at O.S.U. did not have an interest of any sort in the RadObs.  It was not involved in its construction or operation and had no radio observational program.  Worse yet it was a competitor for scarce science funds needed to bankroll their own optical observatory needs (which incidentally Perkins Observatory did not fit into either.)  Without a big science roll the RadObs was left to fringe science such as SETI (Search of Extraterrestrial Intelligence which at the time was on the fringes of science).  Eventually the RadObs would be scraped for lack of funds to maintain it and because a golf-course development had bought the land underneath it.

I think basically radio astronomy just did not turn me on – there was nothing to see just a pile of numbers or a strip chart.  It takes quite a lot of computing to get those pictures you see of objects at radio wave lengths and back then they just did not have the computing power.  So it was easier for me to understand what was going on and get involved in Perkins, an optical observatory.  That was the last year that Tom Burns was the President of C.A.S.  Tom also wrote a weekly astronomy column in the Columbus Dispatch and probably mentioned the C.A.S. and its regular meetings.  The affiliation of C.A.S. with Perkins did a lot to enliven the public programs there.  Eventually Tom became the Director of Perkins Observatory and carried his enthusiasm into the job.

Perkins was chartered in part to provide opportunities for the public to see the glories of the universe.  It’s role as a research institution was limited by its location and its peculiar history.  Locating an observatory in Ohio is an obvious mistake.   The only reason amateurs like myself try to follow this hobby here is because this is where we live and this is where our jobs are.  All research institutions long ago departed the cloudy lowlands for the clear air of deserts and mountains and best of all desert mountains.  Add to this the fact that the observatory was built by Ohio Wesleyan University at the bequest of one of it’s Professors of Mathematics, Hiram Perkins, even though this school does not have an Astronomy Department and you complete the potential for disaster.  Perkins had made a lot of money raising pigs for the army in the Civil War and wanted his observatory to provide not only for research but also for the public to view the glory of the heavens.

Wesleyan in a move both wise and foolish invited O.S.U. to help run Perkins.  The wisdom in this consisted in the fact that they had no one to do it themselves.  The foolishness was in sharing funding and later allowing that to be dependent on O.S.U.  O.S.U. for its money got a decent telescope in a bad location.  So they moved it to Flagstaff, Arizona in 1964.  Perkins itself was left with a smaller instrument purchased by an independent benefactor (the current 32” Schottland telescope).  O.S.U. continued to share funding and use of the Perkins scopes until the late 1990’s when the O.S.U. astronomical programs went into a state of turmoil because the original Perkins scope now living in Flagstaff had long ago ceased to be a world-class instrument.  O.S.U. withdrew the funding that nominally paid for this scope but actually supported Perkins Observatory in Delaware to use the funds to pursue other projects.

The program of public observing continued but is under-funded and the observatory itself is threatened in one way or another by every development project creeping up State Route 23 from Columbus.  I had visited the Observatory briefly during the day sometime shortly after coming to Columbus but never bothered to attend a program.  But I don’t believe the programs were well attended before the C.A.S. and Tom Burns became involved.  When I first became involved I didn’t think my old Palomar Junior scope was worthy of using to show others the stars.  Instead I ran the observatory’s 6 inch Maksutov and the 32 inch during open houses.

After an expedition to observe the annular eclipse in 1994 from near Toledo I upgraded the little scope by replacing the mount with a Polaris mount on a tripod.  This made the scope so much easier to transport, point and use it was almost unbelievable!  I bought more and better eyepieces settling on a series of Vixen Lanthanums.  I bought a drive for the mount and suddenly could view with ease for long periods or show large groups the same object without constant adjustment of the pointing.  Then realized I could put a 6 inch optical tube on the Polaris mount and acquired one.  I had also bought a 10-inch mirror but realized it might be some time before I could complete such a scope.  I began bringing my 6-inch to public nights.  I have also used the little 4 ¼-inch from time to time when the 6-inch was out of service and also as a solar telescope.

Public nights at Perkins are a great experience.  It is an opportunity to meet members of the public and show and explain the wonders of the universe.  Sometimes people are amazed at what they can see.  Some do not believe their eyes and exclaim, “That can’t be real!”  People are surprised when we point out satellites or meteors.  Sometimes we have to field questions about the stars or cosmology or the latest space telescope results.  Sometimes we get to explain light pollution and how we are losing our skies in a wasteful, vain quest for security.  Best of all is the interaction with kids and classes and scout troops that make up a large part of the attendance.  With them we know we have a chance to influence the future and possibly start some bright, young mind on their own path of space exploration.

The year I joined C.A.S. (1991) was also the first year I attended Hidden Hollow -- weekend astronomy conference held in Richland County by the Richland Astronomical Society.  Back then this was a yearly event not biannual event it is now.  When I was at Hidden Hollow that first year I didn't bring a scope of my own but just wandered around from one to another seeing what everyone was looking at.  Also I stood in line for the 31" Warren Rupp Observatory telescope (which is just a little smaller than Schottland at Perkins) and rode the Mighty Lift up to the eyepiece (which on this scope is about 20' off the ground) for a look at the Ring Nebula.

I also remember seeing the Veil Nebula through the eyepiece of a really large club scope aided by an OIII filter.  And I had always thought you could only see such a sight in a photograph!  That was a night of incomparable awe.  Since then I have been to 5 more Hidden Hollow conferences.  I’ve seen and heard David Levy, Stephen James O’Meara, Caroline Shoemaker, Brent Archenal, Donald Parker at these.  I’ve also learned to recognize on site “Crazy” Bob Summerfield and his sidekick/wife Lisa.

I have also just gone out on my own or with a few friends or acquaintances to observe from dark sites I’ve learned about through the club or discovered on my own.  I’ve found the experiences of sharing and of “discovery” constantly vie in this hobby as to which is the more enjoyable.  Once when the Comet Hale-Bopp was visible in the Spring of 1997 I took a couple of coworkers and their families out one night to get a good look.  One of them told me afterward that his normally aloof teenage daughter was impressed.  The other's 6-year old daughter embarrassed me by proclaiming after answering some of her questions, “You the smartest man in the world”.

On another occasion I treated my XLN co-workers to a private star party one night during a company retreat at Deer Creek State Park in the spring of 1999.

On yet another I “discovered” a small cluster near M37 which I later identified as NGC 1907 while observing alone from a dark site.  And on still another night I felt a shiver go up my back as a strange bar of light swept through my binoculars’ field as I observed from a chaise in my own back yard (not a UFO but a tethered satellite it turned out).

I have seen many objects in my humble scopes since I learned the secrets of a solid mount, good eyepieces and dark skies that I would not have thought possible years ago.  Since I am aware that my eyes are aging and that I am probably not seeing what I could have 20 years ago it is somewhat sad to have come late to this discovery.  But better late than never!  I’ve stood in the dark and the cold and talked to many nice people about what the stars are and where the universe came from and not had any idea who they were.  I’ve also stood in the open alone with only God and my journal to share my observations and wonder.
 

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