Percival Lowell Percival Lowell Percival Lawrence Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars. He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death. Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855, in Boston, Massachusetts, the first son of Augustus Lowell and Katherine Bigelow Lowell. A member of the Brahmin Lowell family, his siblings included the poet Amy Lowell, the educator and legal scholar Abbott Lawrence Lowell,
Michigan State University Observatory Michigan State University Observatory Michigan State University Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Michigan State University. It is located south of the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, Michigan (USA), near the corner of Forest Rd and College Rd. It has a Cassegrain telescope in its single dome. Built by Boller and Chivens, the Michigan State University telescope was commissioned in 1969 and entered regular operation in 1970. In 1974, what was at the time a state-of-the-art Raytheon Microcomputer was installed to function as a data gathering and control system. Originally, single channel photoelectric photometry and