Clyde Tombaugh
American astronomer (1906–1997)
Clyde William Tombaugh (; February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer and telescope maker, best known for discovering Pluto in 1930, marking the first detection of what would eventually be recognized as the Kuiper belt. At the time, Pluto was referred to as the ninth planet in the Solar System, a classification that stood for over seven decades.
Born in Illinois, and raised on farms in Kansas, Tombaugh was largely self-taught in astronomy and optical engineering, building his own telescopes from spare parts and grinding lenses by hand. His skill and determination led to a position at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he conducted photographic surveys of the night sky. In addition to Pluto, Tombaugh identified hundreds of asteroids and a variety of star clusters, galaxies, and variable stars, thereby contributing significantly to the cataloguing of the night sky.
As a professor at New Mexico State University, he led the Planetary Patrol project, which helped determine Mercury's rotation period, monitored Jupiter's Great Red Spot, and developed new photographic techniques for satellite searches. After retiring in 1973, Tombaugh continued to construct telescopes, support observational programs, and advocated continued study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
Early life
Tombaugh was born in Streator, Illinois, son of Muron Dealvo Tombaugh, a farmer of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, and his wife Adella Pearl Chritton on February 4, 1906. He was the first of six children in the family with his sister, Esther being born 2+1⁄2 years after Clyde followed by his brother Roy in 1912, Charles in 1914, Robert in 1923 and Anita Rachel in 1929. Tombaugh's interest in astronomy appears to have begun when he visited the Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin when he was 12 years old in 1918.
The public source identifies “Clyde Tombaugh” as american astronomer (1906–1997). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Clyde, Tombaugh and American.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q190232. VIAF identifies the subject as 62844491. The Library of Congress control number is n80070368. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1906, 1997, 1930 and 1973.
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This entry incorporates text from “Clyde Tombaugh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.