Lowell Observatory Director Jeffrey Hall was amazed by the images of Pluto released Wednesday — and bowled over by the announcement that the planet's largest heart-shaped feature would be named the "Tombaugh regio."
Hall watched the NASA news feed from a computer in his office — the same office where Clyde Tombaugh had told Lowell Director Vesto Slipher in 1930 that he had found "Planet X."
"Oh my goodness. Wow. Oh my gosh. Whoa," Hall said as the announcement was made.
Hall said he was overwhelmed by the number of features and the number of scientific implications raised by "just this tiny fraction of the surface" released by NASA.
"Just think of the number of new questions it's going to raise."
Asking and answering questions about Pluto has been a big part of Lowell's history and its current science.
People are also reading…
Hall noted proudly that three of the five panelists at NASA's New Horizons press conference worked at Lowell now or in the past.
