Lowell Observatory - Notable Discoveries

Notable Discoveries

See also: Planets beyond Neptune
  • The dwarf planet Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.
  • Large recessional velocities of galaxies by Vesto Melvin Slipher between 1912 and 1914 (that led ultimately to the realization our universe is expanding).
  • Co-discovery of the rings of Uranus in 1977.
  • The periodic variation in the activity of Comet Halley during the 1985/1986 apparition.
  • The three largest known stars.
  • The atmosphere of Pluto.
  • Accurate orbits for two of Pluto's moons: Nix and Hydra.
  • Oxygen on Jupiter's satellite Ganymede.
  • Carbon dioxide ice on three Uranian satellites.
  • The first Trojan of Neptune.
  • Evidence that the atmosphere of HD 209458 b contains water vapor.


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