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
William Lowell Putnam III William Lowell Putnam III William Lowell Putnam III (October 25, 1924 – December 20, 2014) was an alpinist, author and retired broadcasting executive. He was Trustee Emeritus of the Lowell Observatory, a private astronomical research facility. He was the son of politician and businessman Roger Putnam and a member of the once-prominent Lowell family of Massachusetts. Over several decades beginning in the 1940s, Putnam made many first ascents and difficult exploratory expeditions centered in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. After serving as the American Alpine Club guidebook editor for western Canada beginning in 1957 and subsequently in other capacities,