Clyde Tombaugh was born in Streator in 1906. His interest in astronomy developed from looking through his uncle’s telescope as a child. Unsatisfied with store-bought telescopes, Tombaugh began building his own telescopes, one of which helped him accurately describe Jupiter and Mars.

Tombaugh earned a job at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona where he was tasked with photographing the night sky over several months and examining the photographs to try and find an unidentified moving point of light. After ten months of detailed research, Tombaugh discovered the planet on February 18, 1930 and named it Pluto. It was determined that Pluto was the ninth planet in our solar system and was classified so until 2006 when the plant was re-classified as a dwarf planet. 

In addition to discovering Pluto, Tombaugh also discovered 15 different asteroids and named them after himself, his wife, his children and grandchildren.

Learn more:
Clyde Tombaugh
Academy of Achievement: Clyde Tombaugh