Lowell Observatory
The Clark Telescope Dome on Mars Hill
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organization | Private institution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | 690 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Flagstaff, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°12′10″N 111°39′52″W / 35.20278°N 111.66444°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Altitude | 2,210 m (7,250 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Established | 1894 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.lowell.edu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
[]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discovery Channel Telescope | 4.28 m (169 in) telescope (located at Happy Jack, Arizona) |
|---|---|
| Perkins Telescope | 180 cm (72 in) cassegrain telescope (located at Anderson Mesa) |
| John S. Hall Telescope | 110 cm (42 in) Ritchey-Chretien telescope (located at Anderson Mesa) |
| Unnamed telescope | 79 cm (31 in) reflecting telescope (located at Anderson Mesa) |
| LONEOS Schmidt Telescope | 64 cm (25 in) catadioptric (located at Anderson Mesa) |
| 24-inch Clark Telescope | 61 cm (24 in) Alvan Clark refractor |
| Unnamed telescope | 53 cm (21 in) reflecting telescope |
| Unnamed telescope | 46 cm (18 in) astrograph |
| John Vickers McAllister Telescope | 41 cm (16 in) Boller and Chivens cassegrain telescope |
| Abbot L. Lowell Astrograph (Pluto Discovery Telescope) | 33 cm (13 in) astrograph |
| Planet Search Survey Telescope | (located at Anderson Mesa) |
| Navy Precision Optical Interferometer |
six-aperture astronomical interferometer with baselines up to 437 m (1,434 ft) (located at Anderson Mesa, operated in partnership with the USNO (through NOFS) and the NRL) |
|
Lowell Observatory
|
|
The Slipher Rotunda Museum at Lowell Observatory
|
|
 
|
|
| Built | 1894 |
| MPS | Flagstaff MRA (AD) |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000172 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1965 |
six-aperture astronomical interferometer with baselines up to 437 m (1,434 ft) (located at Anderson Mesa, operated in partnership with the USNO (through NOFS) and the NRL)
Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. In 2011, the Observatory was named one of "The World's 100 Most Important Places" by TIME. It was at the Lowell Observatory that the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
The Observatory's original 61-centimeter (24-inch) Alvan Clark & Sons Telescope is still in use today for public education. Lowell Observatory hosts 85,000 visitors per year at their Steele Visitors Center, who take guided daytime tours and view various wonders of the night sky through the Clark Telescope and other telescopes. It was founded by astronomer Percival Lowell of Boston's well-known Lowell family and is overseen by a sole trustee, a position historically handed down through the family. The first trustee was Lowell's third cousin Guy Lowell (1916–1927). Percival's nephew Roger Putnam served from 1927–1967, followed by Roger's son Michael (1967–1987), Michael's brother William Lowell Putnam III (1987–2013), and current trustee W. Lowell Putnam.
The observatory operates several telescopes at three locations in the Flagstaff area. The main facility, located on Mars Hill just west of downtown Flagstaff, houses the original 61-centimeter (24-inch) Clark Refracting Telescope, although its role today is as a public education tool and not research. The telescope, built in 1896 for $20,000, was assembled in Boston by Alvan Clark & Sons and then shipped by train to Flagstaff. Also located on the Mars Hill campus is the 33-centimeter (13-inch) Pluto Discovery Telescope, used by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 to discover the dwarf planet Pluto.
...
Wikipedia