History

May 11, 1967: Lunar Orbiter 4 begins photographing the Moon Lunar Orbiter 4 was robotic craft launched as part of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Program. The orbiter was the fourth in […]

View from Mars Hill: 125 years and counting — the 24-inch Clark Telescope

Photo: Ralph Nye led the restoration project of the 24-inch Clark Telescope that Percival Lowell used to map the surface of Mars. The telescope was also used to make maps […]

Celebrating National Astronomy Day | May 15, 2021

This year, National Astronomy Day falls on May 15, 2021. Read on to learn about how this bi-annual celebration began, and how you can celebrate it from wherever you are […]

This Week in Astronomy History: May 3-9

Photo: Marine Corps HUS-1 helicopter from HMR-262 retrieves Freedom 7 from the Atlantic | NASA May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space Astronaut Alan Shepard became […]

This Week in Astronomy History: April 19-25

Photo: The view through the window of the Lunar Module Orion shortly after Apollo 16’s landing on the surface of the Moon | NASA April 20, 1967: Surveyor 3 soft-lands […]

This Week in Astronomy History: April 12-18

Photo: View of the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module after separation from the main craft | NASA April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes first human being in space Yuri Gagarin […]

This Week in Astronomy History: April 5-11

Photo: A view of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, taken from the aft flight deck window of space shuttle Atlantis | NASA April 5, 1991: Compton Gamma Ray Observatory deployed […]

March 22, 1997: Comet Halle-Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth Comet Halle-Bopp, one of the brightest comets ever recorded, and made its closest approach to Earth on March 22, […]

This Week in Astronomy History: March 8-14

Photo: Percival Lowell sits in the Clark Telescope Dome | Lowell Observatory Archives March 10, 1977: Rings of Uranus discovered The rings of Uranus were discovered by astronomers James L. […]

This Week in Astronomy History: March 1-7

Photo: Local residents of Tombstone, AZ standing with the 6″ Alvan Clark & Sons telescope Andrew Douglass used to test the viewing conditions in potential observatory locations.  March 1, 1966: […]

This Week in Astronomy History | Feb. 22-28

Photo: An image of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, taken with the ESO Schmidt Telescope. Supernova 1987A is visible as the very bright star in the upper […]

Who Was Clyde Tombaugh?

Photo: Clyde Tombaugh at the guide scope of the 13-inch astrograph he would use to discover Pluto. The eldest of six children, Clyde Tombaugh was born on a farm near […]