Clyde Tombaugh

Clyde William Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto in 1930.

Discovery of Pluto

While a young researcher working for Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, Tombaugh found Pluto during a systematic search for a trans-Neptunian planet (also called Planet X), which had been predicted by Percival Lowell and William Pickering.

Related Topics:
Lowell Observatory - Flagstaff, Arizona - Neptunian - Planet X - Percival Lowell - William Pickering

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Tombaugh's discovery involved painstaking use of a blink comparator — a device which allows someone to compare two similar photographs by placing them in the viewer's field of vision, and then letting the user switch back and forth — blink — between the two. Tombaugh used the blink comparator to compare photographs of sections of sky taken several nights apart. A moving object, such as a planet, would appear to jump from one position to another while the more distant objects, such as stars, would appear stationary. Tombaugh noticed such a moving object in his search, and subsequent observations showed it to be the planet we call Pluto. The discovery was made on February 18, 1930, using images taken in January of the same year.

Related Topics:
Blink comparator - February 18 - January

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The name "Pluto" was suggested by Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old English school girl. It won out over numerous other suggestions partly because it was named after the Roman god of the underworld, who was able to render himself invisible, and partly because Percival Lowell's initials PL formed the first 2 letters. The name Pluto was officially adopted on 1 May 1930.

Related Topics:
Venetia Burney - Roman - God of the underworld - Percival Lowell

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