Students and staff from KU gathered Friday to break ground on a new observatory on campus that will be the future home of a 140-year-old telescope.
The Tombaugh Observatory is named after Clyde Tombaugh, a Kansas native who discovered Pluto in 1930. He later graduated from KU.
The project is a joint venture between the architecture and design school and the physics and astronomy department.
“In the Midwest, we’re so dedicated to the land, yet also connected to the cosmos and the stars above us,” said Chad Kraus, an architecture professor at KU. “I just love that story, and I love how this little observatory is going to make that connection possible.”
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The observatory will be home to a 6-inch Clark Refractor telescope KU acquired in 1885. It has survived multiple observatories and relocations during its time in Lawrence.
For about 50 years, the telescope was housed in an observatory on the roof of Lindley Hall. But in recent years, the telescope has been in storage in the Malott Hall basement due to the deteriorating conditions of the Lindley Hall rooftop observatory.
The new Tombaugh Observatory aims to restore public and academic access to the telescope.
“This is really an intrinsic part of KU’s history, and we’re really thrilled to give it a new home,” said Ian Crossfield, a physics and astronomy professor.
The observatory will be on the lawn between Chalmers and Slawson Hall.
Jen Roberts, the executive dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences said the observatory would allow “experiential learning for our students, but also for our community members.”
“This has been a wonderful collaboration,” she said.
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2022. He can be reached at [email protected].
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