Lowell Observatory & Economic Impact of DCT

"Since breaking ground on the Discovery Channel Telescope in 2003, construction of DCT has pumped over $14 million in direct spending into the state of Arizona; about 72% of this in Flagstaff. Arizona’s DCT contractors have provided highly skilled workers and technical services including design and construction of the DCT facility and dome, fabrication of structural components, primary mirror figuring, and mirror support design."

Read the rest of the story on the Lowell Observatory Blog Economic Impact of DCT.

Pluto Anniversary at Lowell Observatory

It's going to be a busy week at Lowell Observatory, here in Flagstaff, Arizona. Tonight, February 15, 2009, Lowell will host a Winterfest Star Fest, from 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., since students will be out of school, all the activities at the Observatory are free for kids, with adult supervision.

Wednesday, it's Pluto Night at Lowell. On February 18, 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto. This celebration will include a presentation at 7 p.m. by Will Grundy and Kevin Schindler about that discovery and the exciting work that is being done at Lowell Observatory today.

For details of these events, call 928-774-3358 or go to Lowell Observatory Outreach.

Mars 3-D Photos Released

Remember the Mars Exhibit at Lowell Observatory? Now you can seesome spectacular pictures online, at the Arizona Daily Star. Thanks to Arizona Geology Blog for this link.

The University of Arizona High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter did fantastic work.

Kudos!

Flagstaff Tourism in Sky & Telescope

I really like the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau ad in the December 2008 issue of Sky & Telescope. Sorry I didn't write down the page number when I saw it at Barnes & Noble.

I did jot down a bit of the copy written beside the photograph of the interior of the Clark Observatory at Lowell:

Hot stars.

Big lenses.

{No paparazzi.}

Great job, CVB!

National Geographic Life on Mars

We just watched the 2008 National Geographic Naked Science "Life on Mars" about Mars Lander and the folks at the University of Arizona.

In an earlier post, I talked about how Gene Shoemaker would have wanted to be "right there" with these scientists and their project on Mars.

Today while I was watching this show, it occurred to me how delighted Percival Lowell would have been about all these Mars discoveries and the "little guys and gals" up there working away. The story about the "canals on Mars" may not have turned out the way he thought but, do I think he would be disappointed? I don't think so.

When he sent A.E. Douglass to find the perfect spot for his observatory, in his wildest dreams I don't believe that could envision the future of Martian discoveries. How could he have imagined a machine that could take pictures of the surface of the planet's surface and send those photos back to earth to be turned into the 3-D exhibit? One that would be on display in Lowell Observatory's Rotunda--at his own observatory which is still doing science after more than a hundred years. Wouldn't he be pleased that Lowell and Mars are still connected in the year 2008?

National Geographic, Flagstaff and Lowell

The November 2008 issue of National Geographic has a very welcome article, Our Vanishing Night, on light pollution and its effects on nature and on humans. In the third paragraph down on page 3 of the web version of the article, the writer, Verlyn Klinkenborg, writes about the mission to limit light pollution and protect the dark skies. He mentions Flagstaff and its pioneering civic efforts to control light and protect the viewing at Lowell Observatory. He also writes about the implementation of even more stringent lighting regulations in Flagstaff and its designation as the first International Dark Sky City.

Be sure to take a look at the beautiful photographs by Jim Richardson and read Glynnis McPhee's interview with him.

We do appreciate National Geographic publishing this story that highlights the ever-growing problem of light pollution and acknowledging the efforts of cities around the world to control that pollution.

A New Perspective on Mars at Lowell

On Saturday evening, October 25, 2008, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Lowell Observatory will host the grand opening of an international exhibit created by the German Space Agency. "A New Perspective on Mars" is making its first stop in the western United States at Lowell and will be on display from October 22 through December 3, 2008.

This showcase of large-format images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft will be on display in Lowell Observatory's Rotunda. The Rotunda is a great choice. It's a wonderful building, filled with history. Obviously one of my favorite places.

At 5:45 p.m., Dr. Ralf Jaumann, Head of DLR's Planetary Geology Section and Experiment Manager for the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express, will give a 15-minute presentation.

Be sure to put this on your weekend calendar. This is a great opportunity to hear Dr. Jaumann and see this exhibit that comes to Flagstaff after visiting Europe, Canada and the United Nations.

Thanks to Steele Wotkyns, Lowell Observatory Public Relations Manager for the advisory about this grand opening.

Autumn Star Fest at Lowell Observatory

It's that time of year again. This Sunday, October 12, 2008, from 5:30-9:30 p.m., Lowell Observatory will host Autumn Star Fest, with indoor programs and telescope viewing. It looks like the weather will be great for stargazing. It is going to be a bit nippy though, so be sure to dress appropriately.

Just a hint of autumn on the way to the Snow Bowl 10-5-08

Looks like fall is here with lows dipping into the twenties over the next few days. Time to get out and see what's happening with the georgeous colors around Flagstaff and the Peaks.

Interferometer Tour at Anderson Mesa

Aerial View
Courtesy NPOI

Thanks to Lowell Observatory, Naval Observatory and the Naval Research Laboratory for a fantastic tour of the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) on Sunday, September 28, during the 2008 Flagstaff Festival of Science.

Jim Clark, Senior Mechanical Engineer, was our guide for the tour. His hospitality and his extensive knowledge combined to give us a most enjoyable, as well as educational, view of the NPOI on Anderson Mesa.

I highly recommend this once a year opportunity. But, you'll have to wait until the 2009 Flagstaff Festival of Science.

Siderostat Station
M. Crain 9-28-2008

A. E. Douglas by George Ernest Webb

Want to learn more about A.E. Douglas and the part he played in establishing Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff? Then you'll want to take a little trip to the library, your favorite used bookstore or Amazon.com to find a copy of Tree Rings and Telescopes: The Scientific Career of A. E. Douglass by George Ernest Webb. In its pages you will find that and much more.

Beginning with the first page of the preface, Webb catches your attention and doesn't let you go until the end of the last chapter, The Final Quest.

The first paragraph begins with, "On March 15, 1960, more than 100 persons gathered on the sun-warmed summit of a southern Arizona mountain to dedicate Kitt Peak National Observatory. From the beginning of the ceremonies, one man gained particular notice. Andrew Ellicott Douglass (1867-1962), ninety-three years old, listened intently to the speakers and carefully explored the site of the largest single collection of astronomical instruments in the United States."

Webb ends with, "Few scientists establish enviable reputations in two fields; fewer still create and entirely new discipline. Douglass's success in achieving both these feats assures his place among the leaders of modern science."

And in the 190 pages in between, he details the career of A. E. Douglass. From Harvard University, to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, to the University of Arizona in Tucson, Steward Observatory and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, his impact on the making of science in the Southwest is explored with a sense of wonder and admiration.

This book is well-researched and includes extensive chapter notes and an impressive bibliography. I highly recommend it.

Lowell Steele Visitor Center Milestone

A million visitors have been welcomed by Lowell Observatory since the Steele Visitor Center opened in 1994. Tomorrow will be a celebration. Get all the details here.

Sounds like lots of fun. Half-price admission. Free raffle tickets given out from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Raffle for some really nice prizes at 3:30 p.m.

Of course, as always, there will be tours and telescope viewing. Flagstaff is so fortunate to have such an amazing place to visit. I'm always ready to head up to Mars Hill. I'll see you there!

Discovery Space Op-Ed

Yesterday, Lowell Observatory Blog highlighted the new op-ed piece by Bob Millis, Lowell Observatory's Director, on Discovery Space. It's called Who Stole the Night Sky?

Kudos for a great job of focusing attention on the growing problem of light pollution. Here is a taste of this important opinion piece, given a national venue by Discovery:

"If Arizona, for example, were to adopt statewide the lighting practices required by the ordinances in Flagstaff and Coconino County, a recent study shows the state would save $30,000,000 dollars per year and stop 14,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being annually pumped into the atmosphere. Imagine these savings if the entire United States were to follow suit."

Be sure to read the rest of the article and follow the links in it. One of them leads to a video about the "Happy Jack" telescope.

Flagstaff, circa 1890

Our trip today takes us all the way back to the Flagstaff of the late 19th century, as seen through the eyes of John L. Stoddard, American traveler and lecturer. This is how he arrived in Flagstaff. We pick up his story, in his own words, during a visit to Lowell Observatory.

"Upon a hill near Flagstaff stands an astronomical observatory from which distinguished students of the midnight skies search for the secrets of the moon and stars. Few better sites on earth could have been chosen for this purpose, since Arizona's atmosphere is so transparent that the extent of celestial scenery here disclosed is extraordinary.

We visited the structure at the solemn hour that marks the hush between two days, when the last sound of one has died away, and before the first stir of the other thrills the morning air. Then, gazing through the lenses of its noble telescope, we welcomed the swift waves of light pulsating toward us from the shoreless ocean we call space. There is a mysterious beauty about the radiance of a star that far surpasses that of the moon. The latter glitters only with reflected light; but a star (that is to say a distant sun), when seen through a telescope, frequently scintillates with different colors like a diamond, and quivers like a thing of life. Moreover, the moon, forever waxing, waning, or presenting almost stupidly its great flat face, is continually changing ; but the fixed star is always there."


"It fills the thoughtful soul with awe to look upon the starry heavens through such an instrument as that at Flagstaff. Space for the moment seems annihilated. We are apparently transported, as observers, from our tiny planet to the confines of our solar system, and, gazing thence still farther toward infinity, we watch with bated breath the birth, the progress, and the death of worlds."

"To one of the most distant objects in the depths of space, known as the Ring Nebula, the author addressed the following lines :

TO THE RING NEBULA

O, pallid spectre of the midnight skies!

Whose phantom features in the dome of Night

Elude the keenest gaze of wistful eyes

Till amplest lenses aid the failing sight,

On heaven's blue sea the farthest isle of fire,

From thee. whose glories it would fain admire,

Must vision, baffled, in despair retire !

What art thou ghostly visitant of flame ?

Wouldst thou 'neath closer scrutiny dissolve

In myriad suns that constellations frame,

Round which life-freighted satellites revolve,

Like those unnumbered orbs which nightly creep

In dim procession o'er the azure steep,

As white-wing'd caravans the desert sweep ?

Or, art thou still an incandescent mass,

Acquiring form as hostile forces urge,

Through whose vast length a million lightnings pass

As to and fro its fiery billows surge,

Whose glowing atoms, whirled in ceaseless strife

Where now chaotic anarchy is rife,

Shall yet become the fair abodes of life ?

We know not ; for the faint, exhausted rays

Which hither on Light's winged coursers come

From fires which ages since first lit their blaze,

One instant gleam, then perish, spent and dumb !

How strange the thought that, whatsoe'er we learn,

Our tiny globe no answer can return,

Since with but dull, reflected beams we burn !

Yet this we know ; yon ring of spectral light,

Whose distance thrills the soul with solemn awe,

Can ne'er escape in its majestic might

The firm control of omnipresent law.

This mote descending to its bounden place,

Those suns whose radiance we can scarcely trace,

Alike obey the Power pervading space."

"One glorious September morning, leaving our train at Flagstaff, we started in stage-coaches for a drive of sixty-five miles to the Grand Canon. I had looked forward to this drive with some misgiving, dreading the heat of the sun, and the dust and sand which I had supposed we should encounter ; but to my astonishment and delight it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It was only eleven hours in duration, and not only was most of the route level, but two-thirds of it lay through a section of beautifully rolling land, diversified with open glades and thousands upon thousands of tall pines and cedars entirely free from undergrowth. It is no exaggeration to say that we drove that day for miles at a time over a road carpeted with pine needles. The truth is, Arizona, though usually considered a treeless and rainless country, possesses some remarkable exceptions ; and the region near Flagstaff not only abounds in stately pines, but is at certain seasons visited by rainstorms which keep it fresh and beautiful."


Excerpted from John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Volume X, 1989, Boston, Balch Brothers Co. Now in public domain.

To be continued . . .

From Flagstaff to Mars--The Connections

NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water

June 20, 2008 -- Scientists relishing confirmation of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead. "It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce today that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, during a Friday news briefing to announce the confirmation of water ice. For the rest of the story and photos visit the Phoenix Mars Mission at the University of Arizona.

Mars is definitely a long road trip from Flagstaff, but reading about this extremely important discovery made me think how Gene Shoemaker would have wanted be right in the middle of this proud group of men. And that brings us to the Flagstaff connection--the Astrogeology Research Program that was founded in 1961 by Gene Shoemaker (1928-1997). He died tragically in an automobile accident in 1997. The program he started, and contributed so much to, lives on with a team of over 80 diverse participants. In 2002 the program moved into its new home, the Shoemaker Center for Astrogeology on the USGS Flagstaff Science Center campus. It's located next to Buffalo Park, 2400 N. Gemini Road.

Here you can read about Gene Shoemaker and the history of the Astrogeology Research Program, including how they and Flagstaff contributed to astronaunt training and missions to the moon . Link out from that page to a list of recommended reading, including an online book and a link to "Romance to Reality: a site warehousing over 300 summaries and descriptions of classic, seminal, and illustrative Moon and Mars exploration and studies dating from the 1950's to present," which is broken. Now that sounds like one extremely interesting collection. However, a quick Google search leads to a page on the Mars Institute website, titled Romance to Reality: moon & Mars plans, which requires a bit more research. Happy hunting. I'll see if I can find more info since this page doesn't tell us about the current progress of the books (another broken link.) Seems a shame that the material is no longer available. Sometimes a trail begins and ends unexpectedly.

But, back to the Flagstaff to Mars connection, actually connections, when you consider not only the Astrogeology Research Program, but the history of Lowell Observatory and how it came to be built in Flagstaff.

Want to see how the Astrogeology Research Program is still directly connected to Mars? Go to the Upcoming Missions. Gene Shoemaker must be proud of the work that is continuing to be done on the foundation that he built.

Father's Day Trip to Lowell

Looks like the clouds are blowing away, so this should be a perfect night for Father's Day Star Fest at Lowell Observatory. It starts at 7 p.m. with an indoor presentation called, "We're All Made of Startdust." If you're as intrigued as I am with the idea that we're made of stuff from the stars, it should be a really interesting night to go to Lowell.


We got this nice shot with a cell phone this morning. Someone forgot to take the camera.

It's wonderful to stand by that great old telescope and know that Lowell, Douglass, Slipher and Tombaugh, among so many others, walked those floors and looked through that lens. We can be so thankful that they had a dream of what might be out there among the stars just waiting for the right person with the patience and the vision to see.

They didn't realize all their dreams, but we are still building on the foundation they laid. There are so many interesting stories to read about the early days of Lowell Observatory and Flagstaff. We'll go there later.

Update: What a fun evening! Howard Israel's presentation was not only informative, but entertaining and inspiring. We really are made of stardust.

Take a Virtual Tour at Lowell

Did you know that the Discovery Channel Telescope is being built about forty miles southeast of Flagstaff?

See the site at Happy Jack for yourself. There's a photo tour here (click on red banner at bottom of page) on the Lowell Observatory website. While you're there be sure to check out the DCT Publication Archives.

There are lots of interesting pages to visit on Lowell's website, including the often updated blog. It's definitely on Everyday Scholar's list of blog picks.

Lowell Observatory by Jesse Gardner