Clyde Tombaugh
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	Clyde W. Tombaugh passed away January 17, 1997 in Las Cruces, 18 days short of his
91st birthday.  The discovery of Pluto, he was also considered the father of the astronomy 
research program at New Mexico State University and an inspiration to an entire generation 
of astronomers.  His wife Patsy, his son Alden, his daughter Annette, five grandchildren, 
and eight great-grandchildren survive him.
	Tombaugh was born February 4, 1906 in Streator, Illinois, but grew up on a farm near 
Burdett, Kansas.  His interest in astronomy came from his father or uncle, depending on 
sources.  When his 2 ¼-inch Sears Roebuck telescope became too ineffective, he grounded 
mirrors and made his own 9-inch telescope.  With this telescope, he drew pictures of Jupiter 
and Mars.  In 1928, he sent those pictures to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. 
He impressed the staff so much that they offered him a job as a junior astronomer.  His job 
was to help in the search for Percival Lowell's "Planet X" by using the Observatory's new 
13-inch f/5 photographic camera. 
	On the nights of January 23rd and 29th, pictures were taken of the region of Delta 
Geminorum.  On February 19th, using a Zeiss blink comparator, Tombaugh noticed a slight 
shift in the position of one of a thousand points of lights.  This was a sign that a planet 
could be among those stars.  After confirming this with several more observations, Tombaugh 
announced the new planet to the world on March 13, 1930.  He was only 24 years old and had 
fulfilled the dream of Percival Lowell, the founder of the Lowell Observatory.  
	Tombaugh continued to work at the Lowell Observatory for another 13 years.  During 
this time, he photographed approximately 65% of the sky.  Although he never discovered any 
more planets, he did discover five (or six, depending on source) star clusters, one (or two, 
depending on source) comets, hundreds of asteroids, numerous clusters of galaxies including 
a supercluster that stretches from Andromeda to Perseus, and a nova.  Not too shabby.
	Other accomplishments he achieved include: determining the vortex nature of 
Jupiter's Great Red Spot, confirming the rotation period of Mercury on its axis, and 
developing a new technique to search for small Earth satellites.  
	And in his free time, Tombaugh even found time to get a college education!  Dr. 
Tombaugh earned degrees from the University of Kansas (both a bachelor's degree and master's 
degree) and taught at Northern Arizona University (where he also got a degree) and the 
University of California at Los Angeles.  In 1955, Tombaugh began the Planetary Group, an 
astronomy research group at New Mexico State University.  He was involved in designing the 
University's Tortugas Mountain Observatory.  The Tortugas Mountain Observatory first began 
photographing images with its 24-inch telescope in 1967 and continues to provide its 
services to NASA today.  In 1970, Tombaugh helped the University start a separate astronomy 
department.  Today, the astronomy department is a member of the Astrophysical Research 
Consortium, which operates the Apache Point Observatory.  Before his death, Tombaugh and his 
wife set up a permanent endowment at New Mexico State University.  The University's Tombaugh 
Scholars Fund is a special fund that helps attract astronomers to the school for 
post-doctoral research.      
	Although he retired, Tombaugh never stopped watching the sky.  When the Smithsonian 
Institute asked him if he would be willing to donate the 9-inch telescope he made in 1928, 
Tombaugh's reply was "I told them I was still using it."