CAS Monthly Meeting and Astronomy Presentation

Topic: “An Historic Brashear Telescope Saved by Restoration”
Speaker: Ralph Nye – Director of Technical Services, Lowell Observatory

In 1914 Percival Lowell obtained a combination 9″ and 6″ objective Brashear Astrograph from Swarthmore College which he used to pursue his quest for “Planet X”. In 1915 the instrument actually took the first photograph of Pluto, fourteen years before its official discovery in 1929 by Clyde Tombaugh. The telescope eventually fell into disrepair, and was later scrapped by Lowell Observatory. At this time Ralph Nye literally saved it from the scrap heap and over several years restored this unique instrument which he now uses in his private home observatory.