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Last month, Lowell Observatory celebrated one million visitors since 1994, and held an event in honor of the Steele Visitor Center.

Visitors were welcomed to Lowell Observatory at half -priced admission, and participated in various raffles with prizes such as a SkyQuest Dobsonian Telescope and a one-year membership in the Friends of Lowell — granting the winner a free quarterly Lowell newsletter, free admission to more than 300 science centers worldwide and free admission to Lowell. Lowell featured a telescope viewing of the sun, demonstrative science experiments and tours of the observatory.

Steele Visitor Center, the main visitor building at Lowell Observatory, opened to Flagstaff residents in 1994.

Kendra Kellogg (left), an NAU sophomore and Lowell volunteer, offers some pointers to visitors looking through a telescope at Jupiter. - Mike Thompson/ The Lumberjack

Andrea Davis, a local resident who was present at the dedication in 1994 and also attended the event on Aug. 28, thinks Lowell is a great attraction for the Flagstaff community.

“My family loves coming up to the observatory,” Davis said. “It’s something that’s always interesting for us. There’s always something fun going on at Lowell Observatory.”

With daytime historic tours and evening telescope viewings, Lowell Observatory is a popular attraction for both local and out-of-town visitors.  

“My cousins from Spain visit me every few years or so, and they always want to visit Lowell at least once before going back to Europe,” Davis said. “One of my cousins is studying astronomy and the research program interests him.”

Lowell Observatory’s research is world-renowned today, but the National Historic Landmark was not always such a famous star-station. Founded in 1894 by astronomer Percival Lowell, the observatory is one of the oldest in the United States, with some of the greatest discoveries.

Between 1912 and 1914, Vesto Melvin Slipher studied at Lowell Observatory and observed large recessional velocities of galaxies, the beginning  to the discovery that the galaxy is ever-expanding.

In 1930, Clyde Tombaugh used the observatory’s 13-inch telescope to discover Pluto. The telescope was later renamed the Pluto Discovery Telescope. 

Hans Smit, an astronomy student visiting from the Netherlands, wrote his final dissertation on the discovery of Pluto, and he said visiting Lowell has been a two-year goal of his.

“Percival Lowell was an amazing man,” Smit said. “He started his searching for a new planet, and kept it a secret, so other astronomers couldn’t take his discovery. After awhile, though, he began publicly calling his project ‘Planet X.’ He died before it could be found, but Tombaugh eventually finished Lowell’s work.”

Smit was amazed to be in a place where so many discoveries were made, and hopes to someday make discoveries of his own.

“Maybe one day I’ll be an astronomer at Lowell, and I’ll leave another legacy,” Smit said.

Lowell was also the site of such discoveries as the three biggest stars, the first Trojan of Neptune and the atmosphere of Pluto.

Now, Lowell Observatory uses many of its resources for public education. Its 24-inch telescope, the Alvan Clark, is open for visitors to use and learn from.

Lowell Observatory recently embarked on a joint project with Discovery Communications, Inc. to build the Discovery Channel Telescope. Lowell is challenged to raise $1.5 million to build the telescope’s auto-guider and the Astronomer’s Lodge at the Happy Ranger Station in Happy Jack, Ariz. Lowell and the Discovery Channel are hoping to make this telescope one of the largest in the United States, fostering discoveries in astronomy, science and technology.

Elementary student groups frequently take educational field trips to Lowell.

Ashley, a fifth grader in the Flagstaff Unified School District, loves going to Lowell with her family and friends.

“I go to see the tours sometimes with my family,” Ashley said. “But my favorite time to go is at night when I get to see all the stars.”  

Additionally, Lowell hosts special events, including the Festival of Science Open, Autumn Star Fest and an Orionid Meteor Shower program.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.