Clyde Tombaugh Flashcards
What is he famous for?
The discovery of Pluto.
In 1930.
Where did he work?
Lowell Observatory
What did he make?
He made his own telescope when he was 20. He made 30 throughout his life.
What made the astronomers think there was a planet X?
Uranus was found to have a strange orbit that could only be attributed to another body near by.
How did he find planet X?
He used the observatory’s 13-inch astrograph to take photographs of the same section of sky several nights apart
He then used their Zeiss Blink Comparator to detect the motion of a nearby planet against the more distant “fixed star”
What else did he discover?
Tombaugh cataloged 29,548 galaxies, 1,807 variable stars, and 3,969 asteroids, of which 775 of the asteroids were previously unreported
He is also credited with the discovery of the periodic comet 274P/Tombaugh-Tanagra
He also discovered hundreds of star clusters, galaxy clusters, and a galaxy supercluster
After observing mars, he concluded that the surface of the planet was pitted with craters as a result of its proximity to the asteroid belt
One of the most notable astronomers to have reported seeing UFOs
