My Dad Discovered Pluto
A university career
In 1955, my father joined the
faculty of New Mexico State University. He founded the school's
astronomy program and went on to teach there until he retired in
1973. Here he is in about 1956, with a 12" reflector he had
assembled to his specifications at the university's Physical Science
Laboratory. Later, he shipped this telescope to Quito, Ecuador for
use in the search for near-Earth objects—essential work for
U.S. space-exploration efforts. Later still, university astronomers
used the telescope under his direction for planetary research. Note
the fold-away sides of the telescope enclosure.