| DESCRIPTION |
The LONEOS 0.6-meter Schmidt Telescope, situated at Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, was central to the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) from 1993 to 2008. Originally built in 1939 and acquired from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1990, the telescope underwent significant modifications, including the installation of a 16-megapixel CCD camera, enabling it to survey up to 1,000 square degrees of sky per night to a limiting visual magnitude of approximately 19.3 . Throughout its operation, LONEOS discovered over 22,000 minor planets, including more than 100 near-Earth asteroids, contributing significantly to planetary defense efforts.
|