The part York played in the discovery of Pluto

 The lens for the telescope that was used to discover Pluto was made in York

The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 at the Flagstaff observatory in Arizona, by Clyde Tombaugh. The observatory had been constructed in 1896 by Percival Lowell to look for this new planet. Lowell would die in 1916 so would not see the discovery.

The search continued after his death and in 1925 another smaller observatory was built at Flagstaff. Today this is known as the Pluto Discovery Observatory.

On January 23^rd and 29^th 1930 photographs were taken that suggested that something had been discovered. It was not until March 13^th 1930 that the discovery was confirmed. At the time of its discovery Pluto was in the constellation of Gemini the Twins.

The telescope that was used to discover Pluto was paid for by Abbot Lawrence Lowell the brother of Percival Lowell and the 13 inch lens in the telescope was made by Thomas Cooke & Sons of York.

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