Clyde Tombaugh's Extraordinary 9-Inch Telescope
Abstract
In 1928, Clyde Tombaugh completed construction of his third telescope, a 9-inch reflector. By far his best to date, this one was also noteworthy because of the array of materials from the family farm that he used to build it. The mounting includes parts from a cream separator, automobile axle, and fly wheel from some other piece of equipment, and the tube appears to be a segment of grain auger. The telescope is also an important piece of astronomy history because it was drawings Tombaugh made with this instrument that he sent to Lowell Observatory. Unbeknownst to Tombaugh, his timing was perfect because observatory Director Vesto Slipher was just then looking for an assistant to help with the revived search for a ninth planet that observatory founder Percival Lowell had begun in 1905. Slipher liked the 23-year-old and his work and hired him. Within a year, Tombaugh discovered Pluto. Years later, when Tombaugh relocated to New Mexico, he took the 9-inch with him and continued using it for the rest of his life. In June 2022, Tombaugh's descendants put the telescope up for auction. The philanthropy department at Lowell Observatory put out call to supporters and collected enough pledges to win the auction. The telescope arrived at Lowell Observatory in July and is now on permanent display in the observatory's Rotunda Museum. Staff will also occasionally take it outside at night and use it for viewing, much as Tombaugh did on his Kansas farm nearly a century ago.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- January 2023
- Bibcode:
- 2023AAS...24114702S