42-inch Lampland Telescope

In 1909, Percival Lowell ordered a 40-inch telescope frame for his expanding research observatory. Father and son Carl A. R. Lundin and C. A. Robert Lundin manufactured the mirror blank with the Alvan Clark & Sons telescope firm from Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Robert Lundin worked the blank to its full 42-inch diameter, and in 1925 the telescope frame was rebuilt to fit the full size of the mirror.

Due to the telescope's great size, the observatory took efforts to keep it cool by building the dome 10 feet below ground level. Lowell Observatory astronomers used the telescope for a variety of projects, most notably by Carl Otto Lampland to make over 10,000 plates of spiral nebulae, star clusters, and to discover supernovae. He also used the telescope for his infrared radiometry studies of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. 

Today, the frame of the telescope is on display in the middle of Lowell Observatory's campus and the dome, affectionately called the "Jiffy Pop Dome," is home to the Buildings and Grounds team.