Lowell Observatory

At Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, the sky is not the limit, just the starting point — to a universe of discovery and family fun.

Celebrating its 125th year in 2019, Lowell Observatory is the perfect place for arousing the awe that lives in all of us, a portal for guests of all ages to explore the cosmos for themselves. Against the backdrop of Flagstaff’s legendary dark skies, planets, star clusters and galaxies are waiting to be explored. View through the same telescope that inspired founder Percival Lowell to dream of life on Mars, and Apollo astronauts a half-century later to envision a lunar surface where they would one day walk. Lowell Observatory is open every evening except Sunday for telescope viewing, stargazing, and science presentations. On some evenings, guests can even meet observatory astronomers, on hand to explain their research and answer questions about the universe.

At Lowell, exploring the night sky is only part of the adventure that awaits. Daytime tours allow guests to explore the fascinating history of what Astronomy Magazine has dubbed “America’s Observatory.” Since 1894, Lowell Observatory has been home to crucial discoveries that changed how we look at the universe around us. V.M. Slipher’s 1912 detection of the expanding nature of the universe, Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto in 1930, and Apollo astronaut training in the 1960s are but a few of these critical contributions.