Anderson Mesa Station
Anderson Mesa Station is an astronomical observatory established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for Lowell Observatory. It is located at Anderson Mesa in Coconino County, Arizona, about 12 miles southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars Hill in Flagstaff, Arizona.
| Organization | Lowell Observatory, United States Naval Observatory | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observatory code | 688  | ||||||||
| Location | Coconino County, near Flagstaff, Arizona | ||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°05′49″N 111°32′09″W | ||||||||
| Altitude | 2,163 meters (7,096 ft) | ||||||||
| Established | 1959 | ||||||||
| Website | Lowell Observatory | ||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||
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  Location of Lowell Observatory, Anderson Mesa Station | |||||||||
Telescopes
Current telescopes
- The 1.83 m (72 in) Perkins Telescope is shared with Boston University (BU) and Georgia State University.[1] Built in 1931 by Warner & Swasey Company, it was originally located at the Perkins Observatory of Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) in Delaware, Ohio.[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[2] It was replaced in 1965 with the current mirror made of Duran-50 low-expansion glass.[5][6]
- The 1.07 m (42 in) John Hall Telescope was built by AstroMechanics and installed at Anderson Mesa in 1970.[7] It was named after former Lowell Observatory director John S. Hall in 1990.[8] In 2004, the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope was upgraded with a new mirror from Hextek, and with other parts.[9]
- The 0.79 m (31 in) 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.[10] It was purchased by Lowell in 1972, and refurbished in 1990.[8][11] It is used by the NURO consortium for up to 60% of the time, and by Lowell scientists.
- The Navy Precision Optical Interferometer (NPOI) is collaboration of Lowell Observatory, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) Flagstaff Station (NOFS), and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).[12] Construction on the facility began in 1992, and engineering tests began in 1994. The first images were acquired in 1996.[13]
Former telescopes
- The 0.6 m (24 in) Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) Schmidt camera was used to search for asteroids and other near-earth objects. It was built by J. W. Fecker, Inc. in 1939, given to Perkins Observatory in the 1950s, and purchased by Lowell in 1990.[8] Starting in 1992 it was refurbished, and saw first light in the dome that previously held the Lowell Astrograph in 1997.[14] Use of the telescope ended along with the LONEOS project in 2008.
- The 0.33 m (13 in) Abbot L. Lowell Astrograph, also known as the Pluto Discovery Telescope and informally as the Pluto Camera, is an astrograph built by Alvan Clark & Sons in 1929. In 1930 it was used by Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto.[15] In 1971, it was moved a new building at Anderson Mesa, and returned to Mars Hill in 1992.[16][17]
References
- "72-inch Perkins | Telescopes | Research | Lowell Observatory". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- "History of Perkins Observatory". Perkins Observatory. Archived from the original on 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- Phillips, Earl W. Jr. "A Short History of Perkins Observatory". The SETI League, Inc. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
- Horstman, H. S. (1999). "Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. Report for the period 1 Jul 1997 – 30 Jun 1998". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 31 (1): 179. Bibcode:1999BAAS...31..179H.
- Abrahams, Peter. "The Telescopes of Lowell Observatory". Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- Hall, S. J. (1964). "Lowell Observatory report". Astronomical Journal. 69: 684. Bibcode:1964AJ.....69..684H. doi:10.1086/109345.
- Hall, J. S. (1971). "Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona. Report 1969–1970". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society. 3: 125. Bibcode:1971BAAS....3..125H.
- Horstman, H. S.; Millis, R. L. (1991). "Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. Report for the period 1 Jul 1989 – 30 Jun 1990". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society. 23 (1): 361. Bibcode:1991BAAS...23..361H.
- "42-inch Hall Telescope | Telescopes | Research | Lowell Observatory". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- Schaber, Gerald G. (2005). "The U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology—A Chronology of Activities from Conception through the End of Project Apollo (1960–1973)" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
- "31-inch NURO Telescope | Telescopes | Research | Lowell Observatory". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- "NOI Telescope | Telescopes | Research | Lowell Observatory". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- Armstrong, J. T.; Mozurkewich, D.; Rickard, L. J; Hutter, D. J.; Benson, J. A.; Bowers, P. F.; Elias Ii, N. M.; Hummel, C. A.; et al. (1998). "The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer". The Astrophysical Journal. 496 (1): 550–571. Bibcode:1998ApJ...496..550A. doi:10.1086/305365.
- "Observing Site". Lowell Observatory. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- "Our History: Discovering Pluto | About Us | Lowell Observatory". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- Hall, J. S. (1972). "Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona. Observatory report". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society. 4: 105. Bibcode:1972BAAS....4..105H.
- Horstman, H. S. (1995). "Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. Report for the period 1 Jul 1993 – 30 Jun 1994". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society. 27 (1): 267. Bibcode:1995BAAS...27..267H.
External links
- Lowell Observatory website
- Anderson Mesa Station Clear sky clock Weather forecasts for observing conditions.
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