Tombaugh

[tom-baw]

noun

Clyde William,1906–97, U.S. astronomer: discovered Pluto 1930.

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British Dictionary definitions for tombaugh

Tombaugh

noun

Clyde William. 1906–97, US astronomer, who discovered (1930) the dwarf planet Pluto

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tombaugh in Science

Tombaugh

[tŏm′bô′]Clyde William 1906-1997

American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930. Beyond the orbit of Neptune, the existence of a planet known as Planet X, had been predicted some years earlier by the American astronomer Percival Lowell based on apparent perturbations in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Tombaugh's careful analysis of celestial photographs did reveal a new celestial body, although it was too small to have caused the perturbations. Planet X itself was never found.