Since all the national parks are closed while we’re in Flagstaff for this visit, we went up to the Lowell Observatory instead.\u00a0 This is one place neither of us has ever been to…and while Jeff’s been to Flagstaff once, I’ve been about a dozen times so I’m surprised I never came up to the observatory before.\u00a0 Too many other great things to see here I guess.<\/p>\n
The observatory that visitors can see is the original dome, built in the 1890s by Percival Lowell.\u00a0 He was from a wealthy family and built the observatory with his own money,\u00a0in order to study Mars.\u00a0 He was convinced that there was a civilization on Mars, as was the popular belief in that time (have you ever read A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs?).\u00a0 He put in a 24-inch lens (common for the time) and studied Mars for many years until his death in 1916.<\/p>\n
If you look at the attached pictures of the inside of the observatory, you’ll notice a row of tires around the rim.\u00a0 This was an innovative solution to a problem from the early years of the observatory.\u00a0 As you many know, the dome has a thin slit through which the telescope can see the skies.\u00a0 The whole dome rotates to give the view desired by the astronomers.\u00a0 The dome on the original Lowell Observatory was rotated\u00a0on a series of\u00a0metal wheels which would stick a lot.\u00a0 Inserting the tires allowed the dome to rotate easily and smoothly.\u00a0 Periodically the tire pressure is checked and inflated as needed, and also periodically the tires go bald just like on a car and have to be replaced.\u00a0 Since they are 1954 Ford truck tires, it’s not easy to find replacements any more!<\/p>\n
The observatory continued to function through family money and in 1930 Pluto was first seen through that 24-inch telescope!\u00a0 You couldn’t see any details – they discovered it by filming that section of the heavens over several nights and observed something that moved in a trajectory that had been theorized as “Planet X” based on the gravitational pull that was exerted on other bodies in our solar system.<\/p>\n
Today the working observatories are a few miles away from the original, due to lights from the city.\u00a0 They are currently building a new Discovery Channel Telescope which will see what today only the Hubble telescope (built in space) can see.\u00a0 WOW!<\/p>\n\n