Historic Lowell Observatory Telescope to be Renovated

Percival Lowell observing Venus, on 1914 October 17, in the daytime from
the observer's chair of the 24-inch (61 cm) Alvan Clark & Sons refracting
telescope, installed in the summer of 1896 at the Lowell Observatory, which
he established in Flagstaff. (Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

Beginning January 1, Lowell Observatory's iconic Clark Telescope will undergo a much-needed facelift. After 117 years of constant use, the instrument will be closed for more than a year as engineers and technicians carefully remove telescope components and repair or replace poorly operating parts.

The Clark was built by the preeminent telescope makers of their time, the Alvan Clark & Sons firm of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. The instrument saw first light on July 23, 1896, and Percival Lowell initially used it to study Mars in support of his controversial theories about life on that planet. Significant research with the Clark included V. M. Slipher's revolutionary discovery of the first evidence of the expanding nature of the universe, the confirmation of Pluto's discovery in 1930 (made by Clyde Tombaugh with another telescope at Lowell Observatory), and creation of lunar maps in the 1960s in support of the Apollo program that sent astronauts to the Moon.

 More - Link >>> http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=42189

Sources: Lowell Observatory, SpaceRef.com .

More on the Lowell Observatory: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Observatory

More about the historic, 1896 Clark Telescope: Link >>> http://www.lowell.edu/visit_clark.php

Info about an older, 1872 Alvan Clark re-figured objective lens in the 13-inch Fitz-Clark Telescope at the University of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory:
Link >>> http://www.pitt.edu/~aobsvtry/fitzclark.html

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