Observatory in NK honors longtime NASA astronomer

For the past several years, astronomy enthusiasts armed with their portable telescopes have gathered on a grass-covered knoll in eastern New Kent County to observe the night skies. Now the site has a permanent observatory that should prove to be a popular attraction.

Perched atop the knoll on the grounds of Makemie Woods near Barhamsville, the observatory is being integrated into the Presbyterian Church camp’s programs and is available for use by scientists and outside groups. In fact, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronomer who is overseeing the project plans to use the site as an extension of his work.

Last month, the task of mounting a 12-inch compound telescope inside the observatory, which resembles a miniature version of the famous Mt. Palomar site in California, was completed. Just like its West Coast cousin, the observatory’s dome and telescope are synchronized to match the movement of celestial bodies caused by the Earth’s rotation.

Dubbed the Brinton Observatory, the Makemie site is named after the late Henry Brinton, a NASA astronomer for 40 years and a contributor to the U.S. manned space program. Makemie hosts the last in a series of four observatories built to honor Brinton’s work.

Brad Perry, a Brinton protégé at NASA, along with Carmen Fragapane, science department chairman at Grafton Middle School in York County, pieced together, mounted, and balanced the Makemie telescope on Oct. 19. Both have been frequent visitors to the Barhamsville site, conducting astronomy activities there since 2001, Perry said.

“This is as good a dark sky site as there is in this region,” he said, noting an overall absence of light pollution from surrounding metropolitan areas.

“It was logical to put the fourth telescope here since we have the same objectives as Makemie Woods, and not many camps have their own observatory,” he added.

The church camp’s director, Mike Burcher, welcomes the effort, noting the facility’s master plan called for eventually building an observatory.

“It’s kind of like God said, ‘Here you go. Here’s your observatory,’” she said.

“We hope to host open observatory nights here,” she added. “The [Brinton] estate wants to make [Brinton’s] passion for teaching astronomy to youth a reality.”

Fragapane, meanwhile, is developing a curriculum for student use in conjunction with the observatory.

Perry said the plan is to link the Makemie observatory with the other three sites via the Internet. All four sites have been chosen for their correlation to Brinton’s life, he added.

The first telescope was placed in 2006 at a church camp in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. Brinton’s son, Henry Jr., is senior pastor at a nearby Presbyterian church, Perry said.

The second site was developed last November in Pennsylvania at the elder Brinton’s high school alma mater. The third opened in Texas in April at a church-run ranch for children located about 140 miles west of San Antonio.

The telescope at Makemie is a 12-inch compound device manufactured by Meade. Price tag, including mount, is close to $17,000.

The instrument features aspects of both reflectors, which utilize mirrors, and refractors, which rely on lenses. The telescope resembles the Schmidt-Cassegrain design but is an upgrade in that it reduces coma, an aberration that elongates and blurs the appearance of stars as seen on a conventional telescope’s viewing periphery, Perry said.

Normally, Perry utilizes much larger telescopes, but says the Makemie observatory affords opportunity to perform follow-up work, especially in the field of spectroscopy, a branch of astrophysics involving the splitting of light to help determine chemical composition of celestial objects.

“Through [spectroscopy] we’ve learned a lot about stars and most of what we know about stars,” he said. “This site will support NASA research I’m involved in, and I can confirm my work on large scopes by tying it in here.”

A Nov. 14, 4 p.m. dedication ceremony is scheduled for the Makemie observatory. Featured speaker will be Dr. John Mather, an astrophysicist and Nobel Prize winner in physics for his work on the early evolution of the universe.