The Perkins Telescope dome
Acronym ListThe Perkins telescope supports Lowell’s research on the solar system, irregular galaxies, blazars, and more.
History
This telescope originally came to Lowell from the Perkins Observatory near Delaware, Ohio. We operated it jointly with Ohio State University and Ohio Wesleyan University until 1998, when we purchased it and formed a partnership with Boston University’s Department of Astronomy. Lowell and Boston University still share in the use and operational costs of the telescope, along with Georgia State University. In addition, Lowell and BU develop instrumentation for the telescope. Boston University supports an instrument scientist in Flagstaff who works with our staff to optimize the performance of the telescope and oversees the university’s day-to-day interests.
Instruments & Uses
The Perkins’ primary research instrument — PRISM (Perkins Reimaging System) — is used for wide-field imaging, multi-object spectroscopy, and polarimetry. Other instruments include MIMIR, an infrared imager/spectrograph/polarimeter, and the DeVeny optical spectrograph. Lowell uses these instruments to investigate...
- The origin of the solar system
- The effect of magnetic fields on the structure of the interstellar medium
- The “solar-stellar” connection
- The age and composition of the galactic disk
- The properties of irregular galaxies
- The variable nature of blazars
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