Lowell Observatory

It's a one-of-a-kind fusion of research and outreach, a 4.2-meter telescope rising seven stories above the top of a cinder cone forty miles from Flagstaff. Lowell Observatory and Discovery Communications are building this $44 million facility to push the frontier of knowledge – and to bring the marvels of the cosmos to millions. In advanced stages of construction, the DCT will see first light in 2011, with exciting science to follow. Learn more about the DCT

Lowell astronomer Henry Roe and his colleagues have found a new tropical storm – 800 million miles away in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan

Their paper, "Storms in the Tropics of Titan," was published in the August 13, 2009, issue of Nature. Henry and his colleagues observed a huge storm with hemisphere-wide effects. "It was as though we observed a giant storm covering South Africa that days later caused clouds to form over Antarctica and Indonesia," said collaborator Emily Schaller. "These observations show that the channels and streambeds in Titan's tropical desert can be explained by infrequent but strong downpours, much like many of the landforms here in the Southwestern United States," added Roe. Read more

Our astronomer David Schleicher has confirmed a new class of comets

Comet 96/P Machholz 1 is a strange object with unusual composition, so unusual, in fact, that it may have come from another planetary system. "A large fraction of comets in our own Solar System have escaped into interstellar space, so we expect that many comets formed around other stars would also have escaped," said Schleicher. "Some of these will have crossed paths with the sun, and Machholz 1 could be an interstellar interloper." Read more

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Visit us

We're open daily in November through February from noon until 5:00 PM MST, and Mon/ Weds/Fri/Sat evenings from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM MST (we may close earlier in poor weather). View through a variety of telescopes including Percival Lowell's 24" Alvan Clark refractor, explore interactive exhibits, and enjoy our widescreen multimedia shows. Read more

Not close to Flagstaff? Keep up with us online

Read our blog, with all the latest news about the DCT, our research, and special events. Receive our newsletter by joining the Friends of Lowell. Or follow Percival Lowell on Twitter!

Photo: Doug Zubenel, OwlEye Mobile Observatory.