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Anderson Mesa Station is an
astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. ...
established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for
Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landma ...
. It is located at
Anderson Mesa Anderson Mesa (Navajo: Hosh Dikʼání) is approximately five mesas long, located 20 miles southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, east of Lake Mary and north of Mormon Lake, in Coconino County. This mesa landform, with an elevation b ...
in
Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, about 12 miles southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars Hill in
Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has an estimated population ...
.


Telescopes


Current telescopes

* The Perkins Telescope is shared with
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
(BU) and
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...
. Built in 1931 by Warner & Swasey Company, it was originally located at the
Perkins Observatory Perkins Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned and operated by Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1931 it had the third largest telescope in the World; the 69 inch aperture Perkins telescope came online at this obser ...
of
Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consorti ...
(OWU) in
Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio ...
. It was moved to Anderson Mesa in 1961, and was purchased by Lowell in 1998. Lowell and BU formed a partnership to operate the telescope that year, and GSU joined later. The original 69-inch mirror, which was figured by J. W. Fecker, Inc., was the largest single piece of glass ever cast in America when it was poured. It was replaced in 1965 with the current mirror made of Duran-50 low-expansion glass. * The John Hall Telescope was built by AstroMechanics and installed at Anderson Mesa in 1970. It was named after former Lowell Observatory director John S. Hall in 1990. In 2004, the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope was upgraded with a new mirror from Hextek, and with other parts. * The telescope of the National Undergraduate Research Observatory (NURO) was built by AstroMechanics and installed in 1964 at Anderson Mesa by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for Project Apollo. It was purchased by Lowell in 1972, and refurbished in 1990. It is used by the NURO consortium for up to 60% of the time, and by Lowell scientists. * The
Navy Precision Optical Interferometer The Navy Precision Optical Interferometer (NPOI) is an American astronomical interferometer, with the world's largest baselines, operated by the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS) in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) ...
(NPOI) is collaboration of
Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landma ...
, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO)
Flagstaff Station Flagstaff station is an Amtrak train station at 1 East Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona. The station, formerly an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway depot, doubles as a visitor center and rental-car pickup and is located in downtown Flagstaff. ...
(NOFS), and the
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
(NRL). Construction on the facility began in 1992, and engineering tests began in 1994. The first images were acquired in 1996.


Former telescopes

* The
Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) was a project designed to discover asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth. The project, funded by NASA, was directed by astronomer Ted Bowell of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizo ...
(LONEOS)
Schmidt camera A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. Some notable e ...
was used to search for
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
s and other
near-earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (Apsis, perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical unit ...
s. It was built by J. W. Fecker, Inc. in 1939, given to
Perkins Observatory Perkins Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned and operated by Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1931 it had the third largest telescope in the World; the 69 inch aperture Perkins telescope came online at this obser ...
in the 1950s, and purchased by Lowell in 1990. Starting in 1992 it was refurbished, and saw first light in the dome that previously held the Lowell Astrograph in 1997. Use of the telescope ended along with the LONEOS project in 2008. * The Abbot L. Lowell Astrograph, also known as the Pluto Discovery Telescope and informally as the Pluto Camera, is an
astrograph An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, a ...
built by
Alvan Clark & Sons Alvan Clark & Sons was an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1846 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, by Alvan Clark (1804&n ...
in 1929. In 1930 it was used by
Clyde Tombaugh Clyde William Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer. He discovered Pluto in 1930, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper belt. At the time of discovery, Pluto was cons ...
to discover
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
. In 1971, it was moved a new building at Anderson Mesa, and returned to Mars Hill in 1992.


See also

* United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station *
List of astronomical observatories This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...


References


External links


Lowell Observatory website


Weather forecasts for observing conditions. {{Portal bar, Arizona, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in Arizona Buildings and structures in Coconino County, Arizona 1959 establishments in Arizona