Photo courtesy of Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalitionįlagstaff has a long history of leading the way in dark sky preservation. In addition to its historical telescopes still in use, Lowell also operates four research telescopes in locations near Flagstaff, including the Discovery Channel Telescope. In October, Lowell unveiled the Giovale Open Deck Observatory with six new state-of-the-art telescopes for public viewing. While parts of the campus are a living museum of the Pluto heyday, it remains relevant today and continues at the forefront of cutting edge astronomy research. Today Lowell Observatory welcomes over 100,000 visitors a year. On February 18, 1930, Tombaugh found what he was looking for and the world was informed on March 13, Lowell’s birthday. And 19 million stars passed in review under the Blink microscope.” I covered three-fourths of the entire sky. “You can only do a few square inches a day as a hard day’s work, and it takes about a month to do about one pair thoroughly. “Some of the plates in the Scorpius Sagittarius regions were running right around over a million stars apiece,” Tombaugh once told an interviewer. He looked for any object that moved from one slide to the next, indicating planetary motion. Tombaugh spent up to seven hours a day comparing photographic plates of sections of the night sky using a Blink microscope. In 1929, the 22-year-old researcher Clyde Tombaugh was hired to continue the search for the planet that eluded Lowell. Lowell suggested the existence of a planet beyond Neptune and searched for it from 1905 until his sudden death in 1916. TIME Magazine named it one of “The World’s 100 Most Important Places” in 2011. It is one of the oldest observatories in the United States and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. The high altitude and dry climate of Flagstaff lured Perceval Lowell, a wealthy businessman and astronomer from Boston, in the 1890s, only a decade after the town sprang to life. I’m drawn to the gorgeous hiking trails, the super cool old downtown where I hit my favorite ramen shop, and the town’s rich history.īut Flagstaff gives me two outstanding reasons to keep it at the top of my astrotourism list: it is the World’s First Dark Sky Community and the home of Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered in 1930. I love making a quick weekend getaway to the cool pines of Flagstaff to escape the scorching heat of the Phoenix area. Photo courtesy of Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition.įlagstaff, Arizona deserves the first place on my list of “Best in Astrotourism”. History is made every day by their brilliant team of researchers.Milky Way over Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory carved out a niche for many discoveries including Pluto. Flagstaff’s low light pollution and commitment to enforcing stargazing-friendly lighting restrictions make it the ideal destination to explore the night skies.ĥ0,000 years-old Meteor Crater was left as the result of a meteorite (estimated to be about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons) striking the Earth with a force 150 times greater than an atomic bomb explosion.įor more than 125 years, Lowell Observatory has connected people to the universe, through education, exploration and discovery. On October 24th, 2001, the City of Flagstaff became the World’s First International Dark Sky City a designation awarded by the International Dark Sky Association. No, seriously! From discovering Pluto and training astronauts to walk on the moon, to becoming the FIRST International Dark Sky City, Flagstaff has a rich lunar legacy. Flagstaff is a stellar destination with experiences truly out of this world.
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