Lowell

By: Kai Crouse

Apr 29 2011

Focal Length:	50mm
ISO:	1250
Shutter:	30 sec
Camera:	Canon EOS 7D

Space has always inspired me and its exploration is almost a religion, so a visit to the Lowell Observatory in the mountains around Flagstaff was a very exciting opportunity. This observatory discovered the “planet” Pluto and laid the groundwork for the knowledge of an expanding universe. This 24″ refractor telescope was the first to ever photograph the dwarf planet in 1915. Unfortunately, Percival Lowell, the observatory’s benefactor and head astronomer, did not live to realize what he had captured and died before the actual discovery in 1930. His initials led to the naming of the planet.

At night, for a small fee, the observatory opens its doors to the public for star gazing. For the first time in my life I gazed upon Saturn’s rings and moons with such clarity that they looked like they were dangling from fishing line.

Although the enormity of Earth’s landscape made me feel small, I felt a certain sense of kinship with our galaxy when I peered through one of these massive telescopes. To be able to close millions of miles of distance with a tube and a piece of glass actually shrinks what once seemed so massive. Even so, the timelessness and vastness of space imparts that everything that we have ever touched has existed for but a blink of an eye and any distance we have ever travelled is no distance at all.

It is comforting to know that there are still explorers out there with a genuine passion for discovery. This ceaseless curiosity is what makes us more than just strings of carbon.