Special Sub-Topic: Clyde Tombaugh Click Here To Play: Clyde Tombaugh

When Clyde outgrew his small 2 1/4 inch (lens diameter) telescope, what did he do?

made his own telescope. He eventually built additional telescopes, around thirty. He also ground his own mirrors for the telescopes. Most people today buy the mirrors already done and just build the rest of the scope.

Clyde Tombaugh originally made sketches of what?

Mars and Jupiter. He would send them to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, to get some advise on his drawings. Lowell Observatory offered him a job to operate a new photographic telescope which he accepted.

What other big interest, besides astronomy, did Clyde Tombaugh have?

steam engines. His father was a engineer on a steam engine rig and Clyde loved the machinery.

Where was Clyde Tombaugh born?

Streator, Illinois. He was born on a ranch on February 4, 1906.

When Clyde Tombaugh retired in 1973, what did he do?

he lectured across the country. Later on in life, for about five years, between 1985 - 1990, he gave lectures across the USA specifically to raise money for his Tombaugh Scholars program at New Mexico State.

At which observatory did Clyde Tombaugh discover Pluto?

Lowell Observatory. Clyde Tombaugh was 24 years old when he photographed the elusive world. He first noticed it on February 18, 1930 on photographic plates. The discovery was announced to the public on March 13, 1930.

Besides Pluto, what else did Clyde Tombaugh discover?

a nova in the constellation Corvus. Besides Pluto and the nova (now called V Corvi), he discovered several comets as well as some star clusters and hundreds of asteroids.

Did Clyde Tombaugh serve in World War II?

y. He did navigation teaching during WWII at Northern Arizona University.

Did Clyde Tombaugh spend his entire scientific career at one observatory?

n. Clyde Tombaugh was dismissed from Lowell in 1945 due to financial reasons. He began working at White Sands (New Mexico) Proving Grounds to help the space program in 1946.

Where did Clyde Tombaugh die?

Las Cruces, New Mexico. He died in Las Cruces, New Mexico on January 17, 1997. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Patricia and two children. About an ounce of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes are aboard the New Horizons space probe that was launched on January 19, 2006. The spacecraft is scheduled to do a fly by of Pluto in 2015.