The Lowell Observatory was founded in 1894 By Percival Lowell. The first permanent telescope, a twenty-four-inch refractor built by Alvan Clark and Sons, was installed in 1896 and is still in use. There are other telescopes at the site, including the thirteen-inch refractor used to discover Pluto in 1930. The Slipher Building is named for V.M. Slipher, the Observatory's director after Lowell's death. It houses various pieces of equipment, including the spectrograph Slipher used to determine that the universe is expanding.

The path leading to the Pluto discovery telescope is called the Pluto Walk, and signs along the 350-foot path show the relative size and distance of each planet from the sun. At this scale, the tour guide told us, the next nearest star to our solar system would be in Los Angeles.

The Steele Visitor Center has interactive exhibits, a small planetarium, a lecture hall and bookstore/gift shop. There are seperate daytime and nighttime hours for the Observatory. In the daytime tours of the grounds are given, and at night you can look through the Clark and other portable telescopes at various stars and comets. The tour guides explain what you are looking at and answer general questions about astronomy. See www.lowell.edu for more information.