NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH CENTER
14 April I960
LASCRUCES, N.H
Dr. Raymond J. Seeger,
Deputy Assistant Director for Math,
Physical and Eng. Sciences
National Science Foundation
Washington 25, D. C.
Dear Dr. Seeger:
Enclosed is a reprint of the article "Reminiscences of
the Discovery of Pluto" which appeared in the March issue of
Sky and Telescope.
The planet search was a long and tedious task; but, it
was also a wonderful tour of the heavens. I sat about 7,000
hours at the Blink-Comparator. I still wonder what might show
up if a similar search was extended to the 20th magnitude. It
would have to be limited to the non-Milky Way regions as the
number of star images in the star clouds would make the task
prohibitive.
Out of curiosity we have done some calculating on the
feasibility of a systematic, photographic comet patrol, in which
various parameters are considered. Since many comets are not
discovered until they reach rather bright magnitudes, one wonder;
how many such objects are missed altogether. I fear that our
knowledge of the amount of cometary material in interplanetary
space is rather inaccurate.
Thank you for your interest in the Pluto article.
Sincerely yours,
CLYDE W. TOMBAUGH
Astn
Encl:
CWT/jr
Reprints (Publications); Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997. Reminiscences of the discovery of Pluto; Pluto (Dwarf planet); Discoveries in science
Relevant Names
National Science Foundation (U.S.)
Date Original
1960-04-14
Digital Publisher
New Mexico State University Library
Collection
NMSU Department of Astronomy: Clyde W. Tombaugh Papers
Digital Identifier
Ms0407pp087006_0010001.tif
Source
Scan produced from physical item held by the NMSU Library Archives & Special Collections Department
Type
Text
Format
image/tiff
Language
eng
OCR
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH CENTER
14 April I960
LASCRUCES, N.H
Dr. Raymond J. Seeger,
Deputy Assistant Director for Math,
Physical and Eng. Sciences
National Science Foundation
Washington 25, D. C.
Dear Dr. Seeger:
Enclosed is a reprint of the article "Reminiscences of
the Discovery of Pluto" which appeared in the March issue of
Sky and Telescope.
The planet search was a long and tedious task; but, it
was also a wonderful tour of the heavens. I sat about 7,000
hours at the Blink-Comparator. I still wonder what might show
up if a similar search was extended to the 20th magnitude. It
would have to be limited to the non-Milky Way regions as the
number of star images in the star clouds would make the task
prohibitive.
Out of curiosity we have done some calculating on the
feasibility of a systematic, photographic comet patrol, in which
various parameters are considered. Since many comets are not
discovered until they reach rather bright magnitudes, one wonder;
how many such objects are missed altogether. I fear that our
knowledge of the amount of cometary material in interplanetary
space is rather inaccurate.
Thank you for your interest in the Pluto article.
Sincerely yours,
CLYDE W. TOMBAUGH
Astn
Encl:
CWT/jr
