Signs pointing to the Lowell Observatory are found both northbound on South Milton Road and westbound on Santa Fe Avenue.įrom the intersection, travel west on Santa Fe approximately 0.4 miles to the point where Santa Fe Avenue turns into West Mars Hill Road. From the east, this is where Route 66 headed westbound turns to the south. Coming from the south, this is where Historic Route 66 headed northbound turns to the east. Travel to the intersection of South Milton Road and Santa Fe Avenue in Flagstaff. Look for the orange and white orienteering signs. Parking is located on your left as you arrive at the Lowell Observatory, on the south side of the Observatory grounds. We're excited to have the opportunity to partner with the Lowell Observatory to offer orienteering events at the site.Ĭlick here to automatically open a browser window to a Google Maps webpage with a marker at the Lowell Observatory. The area surrounding the Lowell Observatory contains a number of dirt roads and trails which pass through a protected pine forest. The various telescopes and buildings are part of a National Historic Landmark that is used for public education. The site is home to several historic telescopes including the Pluto Discovery Telescope that was used to discover Pluto in 1930. The Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at 1400 West Mars Hill Road, on a hill just west of the center of Flagstaff. “In Memoriam Robert Burnham.” Universal Workshop, 12 Feb. Watch the video above to see how it worked. By comparing the plates, he noticed how one very small point of light moved, which turned out to be Pluto. Tombaugh used this machine to compare photographic plates of the starry region in Gemini. You can read my entry for the historic star here. It’s located in the constellation Gemini. Also, note the main star referenced below: “Delta Geminorum,” the star also known as Wasat. As mentioned in the video above, he was comparing plates when he saw the movement of Pluto. The plate was exposed on this date, but Tombaugh didn’t discover Pluto until a few weeks later on February 18th. PHOTO 1: Tombaugh’s journal entry about the photographic plates that contained the photo of Pluto. Of note, Robert Burnham used this same scope for much of his work when he was at Lowell. I put together this video about Lowell, which features the telescope used to discover Pluto. 1 I recommend reading Guy Ottewell’s article “In Memoriam” for more on Burnham’s life. He spent most of his remaining years in California, where he lived a lonely existence until his death at age 61. Sadly, Burnham was eventually let go from Lowell Observatory as his research program closed. Amateur astronomers, including myself, have loved Burnham’s three-volume set, composed with a rich mix of personal, lyrical, and scientific observations. Burnham wrote his classic Celestial Handbook in his free time while working at Lowell. Pluto was in the area near Delta Geminorum (Wasat).Īlso, I’d be remiss for not mentioning Robert Burnham Jr. He noticed Pluto as the moving “star” comparing photographic plates. After a long search, he discovered Pluto, which was later reclassified as a dwarf planet. Percival Lowell had predicted the existence of a ninth planet based on anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, and Tombaugh was hired to search for it. One of the most significant contributions of the observatory was the discovery of Pluto in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
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