Lowell (Martian crater) Lowell (Martian crater) The Lowell Crater is a large impact crater on Aonia Terra in the Thaumasia quadrangle of Mars. The crater is about 203 kilometers (127 miles) in diameter. Lowell Crater has a ring of mountains on its floor which gives it a sort of bull's eye appearance. Its nearby features include the craters Slipher to the north, Douglass to the east, and Coblentz to the southwest, the small mountain Aonia Mons to the west, and Aonia Planum to the southeast. Lowell Crater is named for Percival Lowell who built the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1894, and
Perkins Observatory in the United States. Currently it is one of the three largest telescopes in Ohio. In 1964, three years after the Perkins Telescope arrived at Lowell Observatory, the mirror was replaced. A new mirror made of a more modern material was installed in the old mount. The old mirror was loaned to COSI in Columbus as an exhibit. Part of the arrangement between OSU, OWU, and Lowell Observatory called for Ohio State to continue to fund operations at Perkins Observatory. This included maintaining the building, the library, and the monthly public programs. However, over the following decades, without a research