Lowell Observatory
Historic telescopes, Pluto’s discovery, spectroscopy, planetary science, dark-sky advocacy, and live observing connect a working research legacy with the actual night overhead.
Artwork inspired by Ed Mell
Lowell is both historic site and public observatory. Percival Lowell’s speculative Mars work, V. M. Slipher’s redshift measurements, and Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto show science moving through hypothesis, instrument, plate, measurement, correction, and new questions. Do not let the Pluto story eclipse the observatory’s importance to early evidence for an expanding universe.
Day and night visits are different products. Daylight clarifies buildings and instruments; evening programs add telescope viewing only when weather cooperates. Clouds do not automatically cancel the historical experience, but they change its value. Reserve an entry time, dress much warmer than downtown Flagstaff, and allow for altitude and walking between buildings on Mars Hill.
- Founded
- 1894
- Discovery
- Pluto in 1930
- Allow
- 2½–4 hours
Quick guide
- Begin with instruments
- Connect each claim to telescope, spectrograph,…
- Complicate Mars
- Separate Lowell’s productive observations from…
Test the history at Lowell Observatory
- Opening question
- Connect each claim to telescope, spectrograph, plate, or measurement.
- Begin with instruments
- Separate Lowell’s productive observations from mistaken canals.
- Evidence to test
- Follow Tombaugh’s blink-comparator method rather than only the result.
- Conditions check
- Treat observing as conditional and dress for a cold hilltop
Good to know
A clear forecast improves observing but Mars Hill can be windy and far colder than central Flagstaff. Evening tickets can sell out before the sky is certain, so buy for the full program rather than a guaranteed celestial target. Red-light rules and queues protect everyone’s night vision.
Notice these
- Clark Telescope
- Pluto Discovery Telescope
- Giovale Open Deck Observatory