Percival Lowell detail in mid-1896 soon after the Alvan Clark & Sons refracting telescope was installed at his new Flagstaff, Arizona observatory. Lowell observed the planet high in the daytime sky with the telescope's lens stopped down to 3 inches in diameter to reduce the effect of the turbulent daytime atmosphere. Lowell observed spoke-like surface features including a central dark spot, contrary to what was suspected then (and known now): that Venus has no surface features visible from Earth, being covered in an atmosphere that is opaque. It has been noted in a 2003 "Journal for the History of Astronomy" paper and
Jewett Observatory Jewett Observatory The James Richard Jewett Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Washington State University. It is located in Pullman, Washington (US). It houses the largest refracting telescope in the state of Washington. The 12-inch lens was originally ground and polished between 1887 and 1889 by Alvan Clark & Sons for an amateur astronomer, who died before the telescope could be assembled. The lens was put into storage, and was purchased by the university when it came up for auction in the 1950s. Its present dome was dedicated in 1953 and it is named after the father