In 1930, 24-year-old observatory assistant Clyde Tombaugh took pictures through a telescope at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and spotted something very unusual. It turned out to be Pluto. Thirty-one years later, the observatory became part of another momentous event. In the race to be the first country to put people on the Moon, President John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 that astronauts from the United States would land on the moon’s surface before the end of the decade.
There was only one large problem. No detailed map of the Moon existed.
Yet, Lowell Observatory became ground zero for mapping the Moon, thanks to the famed Clark Telescope, which was built in 1896. Working around-the-clock for a decade, groups of airbrush artists and scientists used the telescope to look at the topography of the Moon and draw beautifully detailed maps of the Moon’s surface.
These maps proved critical to assisting the astronauts in deciding where to land on the Moon, says Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory’s historian.
Visit Lowell Observatory Today
Today, you can tour the beautiful grounds of the observatory with friendly, knowledgeable guides and experience the universe through widescreen multimedia shows, exhibits and live presentations day and night.
The Giovale Open Deck Observatory, a public observing plaza featuring six advanced telescopes for viewers to see star clusters, galaxies and more is a highlight.
New in 2024, the Marley Foundation Astronomy Discovery Center features a 180-seat, two-story 16K led screen and a rooftop dark sky planetarium with comfy heated seats with built in audio-visual elements to help you better experience the night skies.Learn more at lowell.edu/adc.
You also can view the Moon’s craters and sometimes see Saturn’s rings through the 32-foot-long Clark Telescope. The telescopes are housed in a variety of interesting buildings that pop up like giant mushrooms from the ponderosa forest floor.
Kids will love the interactive touchscreen Meteor Exhibit in the Steele Visitor Center.
How Pluto Was Discovered
The story behind Tombaugh is pretty interesting, too. When he arrived at Lowell, it was 1930, and he had come to Lowell from Burdett, Kansas, where a hailstorm devastated his family’s harvest and destroyed his hopes of studying at university. On his family farm, he built his own telescopes to explore the night skies (one of which is currently on display in Lowell’s Rotunda Museum). After he sent his sketches of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory, the self-trained astronomer was hired.
“Of all the traditional nine planets, only Pluto was discovered in this country, so it’s a neat piece not only of scientific history but American history,” says Schindler.
Once hired, Tombaugh worked with a new telescope at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. It had been built specifically to aid in the search for the elusive Planet X, a theoretical ninth planet. But he spent a lot of time looking at sets of glass negatives.
“There were two steps [in identifying new planets]: taking photos and analyzing them,” says Schindler. “Clyde searched the photos that were basically filled with tiny dots and looked for something that changed position.”
What he found was Pluto.
For more information:
(928) 774-3358
1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001
lowell.edu/adc