Clyde William Tombaugh was an American astronomer. He discovered Pluto in 1930, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper belt. At the time of discovery, Pluto was considered a planet, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Tombaugh also discovered many asteroids, and called for the serious scientific research of unidentified flying objects.
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. It was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2020. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) in May 2020, which began restoration and renovation of the historic building and grounds. Re-opening for public visits and programming is expected in 2022.
New Mexico State University is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded on September 17, 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in the state of New Mexico and one of two flagship universities in New Mexico. Total enrollment across all campuses as of 2017 was 21,874, with branch campuses in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Doña Ana County and Grants, and with extension and research centers across New Mexico.
The Apache Point Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU) and owned by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC). Access to the telescopes and buildings is private and restricted.
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Tololo in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile, with additional facilities located on Cerro Pachón about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the southeast. It is within the Coquimbo Region and approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of La Serena, where support facilities are located. The site was identified by a team of scientists from Chile and the United States in 1959, and it was selected in 1962. Construction began in 1963 and regular astronomical observations commenced in 1965. Construction of large buildings on Cerro Tololo ended with the completion of the Víctor Blanco Telescope in 1974, but smaller facilities have been built since then. Cerro Pachón is still under development, with two large telescopes inaugurated since 2000, and one in the early stages of construction.
The Black Moshannon Observatory (BMO) was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Pennsylvania State University. Established in 1972, it was located in the central part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania in Black Moshannon State Park, approximately 17 kilometers (11 mi) northwest of State College. The observatory was closed some time after August 1995.
Leuschner Observatory, originally called the Students' Observatory, is an observatory jointly operated by the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. The observatory was built in 1886 on the Berkeley campus. For many years, it was directed by Armin Otto Leuschner, for whom the observatory was renamed in 1951. In 1965, it was relocated to its present home in Lafayette, California, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Berkeley campus. In 2012, the physics and astronomy department of San Francisco State University became a partner.
Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by San Diego State University (SDSU). The telescope was operated in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) until 2000. MLO is located approximately 75 kilometers (47 mi) east of downtown San Diego, California (USA) on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest in the Laguna Mountains on the SDSU Astronomy Campus near the hamlet of Mount Laguna. MLO was dedicated on June 19, 1968, seven years after SDSU's Department of Astronomy became an independent academic department of SDSU's College of Sciences. The dedication took place during the 1968 summer meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Currently SDSU is working with University of Kansas (KU), and UNC Chapel Hill on various projects.
Haystack Observatory is a multidisciplinary radio science center, ionospheric observatory, and astronomical microwave observatory owned by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is located in Westford, Massachusetts (US), approximately 45 kilometers (28 mi) northwest of Boston. Haystack was initially built by MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for the United States Air Force and was known as Haystack Microwave Research Facility. Construction began in 1960, and the antenna began operating in 1964. In 1970 the facility was transferred to MIT, which then formed the Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation (NEROC) with a number of other universities to operate the site as the Haystack Observatory. As of January 2012, a total of nine institutions participated in NEROC.
Sproul Observatory was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Swarthmore College. It was located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States, and named after William Cameron Sproul, the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania, who graduated from Swarthmore in 1891. The 24" telescope was moved from Sproul Observatory to Bentonville, Arkansas in July 2017
Anderson Mesa Station is an astronomical observatory established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for Lowell Observatory. It is located at Anderson Mesa in Coconino County, Arizona (USA), about 12 miles southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars Hill in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Mount Lemmon Observatory (MLO), also known as the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately 28 kilometers (17 mi) northeast of Tucson, Arizona (US). The site in the Coronado National Forest is used with special permission from the U.S. Forest Service by the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, and contains a number of independently managed telescopes.
Corralitos Observatory was an astronomical observatory located in the Rough and Ready Hills approximately 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was formally dedicated on October 12, 1965, serving as a remote station of Dearborn Observatory, Northwestern University. In October 1965, a NASA program to detect transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) was begun by the staff. Using two-person observer teams, a total of 6,466 man-hours of lunar observation was recorded. The program was run until 1972 but did not confirm any TLP. Using ninety-eight selected reports of TLPs received from amateurs during this period, 39 were checked from Corralitos Observatory.
The Dark Sky Observatory (DSO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Appalachian State University (ASU). It is located 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) east of Deep Gap, North Carolina (USA), off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and 32 kilometers (20 mi) east of the ASU campus in Boone, North Carolina It was established in 1981, and is used for research, instruction, and public viewing events. The Cline Visitors' Center was completed in 2011.
The Portage Lake Observatory (PLO) was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of Michigan (UM). It was located near the village of Dexter, Michigan (USA), about 20 kilometers (12 mi) northwest of Ann Arbor. Construction at the site began in 1948, and the facility was closed in 1975.
The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory (RAO) is an astronomical observatory located near the hamlet of Priddis, Alberta, Canada, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Calgary. The observatory is owned and operated by the University of Calgary (UC), and was dedicated in 1972. The facility is used for research, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and public outreach. Research performed at the RAO included a variable star search program, follow-up observations of variable star discoveries, and detailed investigation of binary stars. An outstanding minor planet search program was also performed with comet discoveries by Rob Cardinal. The RAO now participates in many follow-up observation programs, including the Quark Nova project.
Catalina Station (CS), also known as Steward Observatory Catalina Station, is an astronomical observing facility located on Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately 29 kilometers (18 mi) northeast of Tucson, Arizona. The site in the Coronado National Forest is used with special permission from the United States Forest Service by the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona.
Tortugas Mountain Observatory (TMO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU). It is located on Tortugas Mountain, also known locally as 'A' Mountain, in southern New Mexico (USA), approximately 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) southeast of Las Cruces and 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) east of the NMSU campus. Founded in 1963 under the supervision of Clyde Tombaugh, the observatory focused on observing the planets. Much of the information captured at TMO is now available through the Planetary Data System's Atmospheres Node, which is managed by NMSU. The two-dome observatory building was completed in 1964, though observing began with one of the telescopes in 1963. A second building, with a larger single dome, was completed at the opposite end of the ridgeline of Tortugas Mountain in 1967. Regular use of TMO ceased in 1999 or 2000, but the observatory equipment was not dismantled. In 2008 it was used for the Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite project. In 2010, efforts to revive the observatory for use by the American Association of Variable Star Observers began. As of 10 June 2011, work on project was reported to be 60-75% done.
Howard J. Brewington is an American comet discoverer and former professional telescope operator of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
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