Percival Lowell Milan Observatory. In 1894 Lowell chose Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, as the home of his new observatory. At an altitude of over , with few cloudy nights, and far from city lights, Flagstaff was an excellent site for astronomical observations. This marked the first time an observatory had been deliberately located in a remote, elevated place for optimal seeing. For the next fifteen years he studied Mars extensively, and made intricate drawings of the surface markings as he perceived them. Lowell published his views in three books: "Mars" (1895), "Mars and Its Canals" (1906), and "Mars As the Abode of Life"
Lowell Observatory Neptune, a search for extrasolar planets, a decades-long study of the brightness stability of the sun, and a variety of investigations of star formation and other processes in distant galaxies. In addition, the Observatory staff designs and builds custom instrumentation for use on Lowell's telescopes and elsewhere. For example, Lowell staff built a sophisticated high-speed camera for use on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is a joint project of the United States and German space agencies and consists of a telescope on board a Boeing 747 SP. Sources Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in