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.
Lowell astronomer Travis Barman and his colleagues have discovered three planets in orbit around the young star HR 8799. These new planets are young enough that they are still glowing from heat left over from their formation which took place approximately 60 million years ago (fresh out of the oven by astronomical standards). For theorists like Barman, HR 8799 is a gold mine, allowing broad tests of predictions for planet formation, evolution, and atmospheric physics. The most exciting discoveries about these new planets are certainly still to come. Now that each planet can be individually imaged, plans are underway to take the first spectra of young planets which will allow us to study in detail their chemical compositions, cloud structures, and thermal properties. For more information, see our complete press release.
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 have developed and are testing instrumentation for the SOFIA mission.
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