Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) was a project designed to discover asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth. The project, funded by NASA, was directed by astronomer Ted Bowell of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The LONEOS project began in 1993 and ran until the end of February 2008. LONEOS, in its final configuration, used a 0.6-meter f/1.8 Schmidt telescope, acquired from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1990, and a Lowell-built 16 megapixel CCD detector. This combination of instruments provided a field of view of 2.88 by 2.88 degrees (8.3 square degrees). It had a maximum
Blue Mesa Observatory Blue Mesa Observatory Blue Mesa Observatory (BMO), also referred to Magdalena Peak Station for the International Planetary Patrol Program, was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU). It was located on Magdalena Peak in the Sierra de las Uvas (Grape Mountains) of southern New Mexico (US), approximately northwest of Las Cruces. Founded in 1967 under the supervision of Clyde Tombaugh, the observatory was closed in 1993. The site and the surrounding it were conveyed to the Federal Aviation Administration, which tore down the observatory building and replaced it with a radar installation. BMO's main telescope