Lowell Observatory Research
Jupiter and Io as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft (courtesy NASA / JHU / APL).
The New Horizons spacecraft recently flew by Jupiter, using the giant planet's gravity to slingshot it on its way to Pluto. This image is a beautiful montage of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io as seen from the spacecraft. Besides the gravity assist, the Jupiter encounter was a chance to test the spacecrat's instrumentation, as well as return fascinating new images of the current appearance of Jupiter and its satellites.
Planet TrES-4 (left) and its host star (right). Image by Lowell Observatory.
Lowell astronomer Georgi Mandushev has co-discovered the fourth planet of the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survet (TrES). You can read the full press release about this discovery here.
Pluto was discovered at Lowell Observatory in 1930, and the outer solar system is a essential part of Lowell research today. Lowell astronomers are leading discoverers of Kuiper Belt objects (you can learn more about this on our Deep Ecliptic Survey pages), and astronomer Will Grundy is a member of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
Thanks in part to the generosity of our donors, Lowell Observatory has an exceptionally well equipped instrument shop. Our astronomers are presently developing instrumentation for the SOFIA mission.
Lowell astronomer Phil Massey and his colleagues are surveying the stellar content of several galaxies in the Local Group, including the giant Andromeda Galaxy (pictured at right). The team will catalog about one million stars in these galaxies, answering key questions about star formation rates, galactic populations and galactic structure, and late stages of stellar evolution. Visit Phil's detailed Web site to learn more.
In a long-term and ongoing program at Lowell Observatory, funded by NASA, astronomers Ted Bowell and Bruce Koehn search for and discover near-Earth asteroids on every clear night.
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