Astronomer. He is remembered for his discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930 as well as hundreds of asteroids, and variable stars, as well as star clusters, galaxy clusters, a galaxy super cluster and the periodic comet 274P/Tombaugh-Tenagra. He was probably the most eminent astronomer to have reported seeing unidentified flying objects, beginning in the late 1940s, and to support the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Born Clyde William Tombaugh near Streator, Illinois, his family moved to Burdett, Kansas where they operated a farm. His plans for attending college were frustrated when a hailstorm ruined his family's farm crops. He developed a keen interest in astronomy and beginning in 1926, he built several telescopes with lenses and mirrors he ground himself. He sent drawings of the planets Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. They offered him a job and he worked there from 1929 until 1945. Following his discovery of Pluto, he earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Astronomy from the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas in 1936 and 1938. During World War II he taught naval personnel navigation at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In the early 1950s he worked at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico and taught astronomy at New Mexico State University there from 1955 until his retirement in 1973. He died in Las Cruces at the age of 90. The asteroid 1604 Tombaugh, discovered in 1931, is named after him.
Astronomer. He is remembered for his discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930 as well as hundreds of asteroids, and variable stars, as well as star clusters, galaxy clusters, a galaxy super cluster and the periodic comet 274P/Tombaugh-Tenagra. He was probably the most eminent astronomer to have reported seeing unidentified flying objects, beginning in the late 1940s, and to support the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Born Clyde William Tombaugh near Streator, Illinois, his family moved to Burdett, Kansas where they operated a farm. His plans for attending college were frustrated when a hailstorm ruined his family's farm crops. He developed a keen interest in astronomy and beginning in 1926, he built several telescopes with lenses and mirrors he ground himself. He sent drawings of the planets Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. They offered him a job and he worked there from 1929 until 1945. Following his discovery of Pluto, he earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Astronomy from the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas in 1936 and 1938. During World War II he taught naval personnel navigation at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In the early 1950s he worked at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico and taught astronomy at New Mexico State University there from 1955 until his retirement in 1973. He died in Las Cruces at the age of 90. The asteroid 1604 Tombaugh, discovered in 1931, is named after him.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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