Day 2 - Sep 4, 2016 Last updated: 9/13/16 3:00pm PT
Today we drove from Las Vegas, NV to Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff weather was much better than Vegas. Temperatures in the 70s instead of the 100s. Dinner was at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.
On the way to Flagstaff, we stopped at the Hoover Dam. In the old days, the road on top of the dam was the way you left NV and entered AZ. Now there is a big bridge (with a view of the dam) to speed you on your way. You can still drive across the dam, but you have to pass security first.
From the new highway bridge.
Driving across the dam and the other side.
In Flagstaff is the Lowell Observatory. This is where the planet Pluto was discovered. Lowell didn’t discover Pluto, he searched for it from here, and it was Clyde Tombaugh who finished Lowell’s work and discovered Pluto. The story they tell is that Pluto was named after a Greek god, and that Disney renamed his cartoon dog after the planet.
During the day they had set up a telescope pointing at the Sun (with a filter) so we were able to see Sun spots.
We went back at night when they had multiple telescopes set up for public viewing. One was pointing at a binary star system. I saw two dots close together, and I trust that the observatory staff was not deceiving me. Another telescope was pointed at Saturn, and there was no question about that. We very clearly saw the rings.
Below are pictures of the actual telescope used to discover Pluto.
