Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. 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. The Observatory's original 24-inch (0.61 m) Alvan Clark Telescope is still in use today for public education. Lowell Observatory hosts 80,000 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, and run for a time by his third cousin Guy Lowell of Boston's well-known Lowell family. The current trustee of Lowell Observatory is William Lowell Putnam III, grandnephew of founder Percival Lowell and son of long-time trustee Roger Putnam. The position of trustee is historically handed down through the family.
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Astronomers using data collected with the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) have helped to characterize only the second known minimoon of Earth, a newly discovered asteroid with the designation 2020 CD3, or CD3 for short. ...
Astronomy
Nov 23, 2020
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Just in time for the upcoming Perseid meteor shower, a new meteor surveillance station has come on-line at Meteor Crater, Arizona. A box of 16 off-the-shelf video surveillance cameras is used to monitor the night sky for ...
Space Exploration
Aug 12, 2018
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Astronomers have discovered a rare "runaway" star that is speeding across its galaxy at a 300,000 miles per hour (at that speed it would take about half a minute to travel from Los Angeles to New York). The runaway star (designated ...
Astronomy
Mar 28, 2018
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Astronomers at Lowell Observatory observed comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak last spring and noticed that the speed of its rotation was quickly slowing down. A research team led by David Schleicher studied the comet while ...
Space Exploration
Oct 18, 2017
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A new study led by Michael West of Lowell Observatory reveals that the most massive galaxies in the universe have been aligned with their surroundings for the past ten billion years. It is the furthest back in time that this ...
Astronomy
Jun 13, 2017
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Artificial light at night is a threat to astronomical research, personal safety, and the health of both humans and wildlife. The problem is worsening with the proliferation of LED billboards and blue-rich white light LEDs ...
Space Exploration
Jan 6, 2017
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The instrument at Lowell Observatory used by Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto will soon undergo renovation. The year-long project, set to begin on January 12, will include restoration of both the historic telescope and the ...
Space Exploration
Jan 6, 2017
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Millions of bits of space junk—leftover fragments from spacecraft and related debris—orbit Earth, and the majority of these will eventually fall into Earth's atmosphere and incinerate. Astronomers believe they have recently ...
Space Exploration
Oct 26, 2015
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Lowell Observatory's iconic Clark Telescope is about to undergo a much-needed facelift. After 117 years of constant use, the instrument will be closed for more than a year as engineers and technicians carefully remove telescope ...
Space Exploration
Dec 27, 2013
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(Phys.org)—Though the search for planets around other stars, or exoplanets, is showing researchers that planets are abundant in our galaxy, it helps a great deal to have directions when searching for as-of-yet undiscovered ...
Astronomy
Nov 13, 2012
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