Tombaugh was searching for "Planet X," a planet beyond [[Neptune]] that was believed to be influencing Neptune's orbit. Percival Lowell, founder of the observatory where Tombaugh worked, had calculated possible sky positions for Planet X based on observations of Neptune's orbit. However, Tombaugh did not make use of Lowell's calculations. Instead, he used the observatory's telescope to photograph the opposition point to the sun every night for a year, thus conducting a full sky survey of the Zodiac. | Tombaugh was searching for "Planet X," a planet beyond [[Neptune]] that was believed to be influencing Neptune's orbit. Percival Lowell, founder of the observatory where Tombaugh worked, had calculated possible sky positions for Planet X based on observations of Neptune's orbit. However, Tombaugh did not make use of Lowell's calculations. Instead, he used the observatory's telescope to photograph the opposition point to the sun every night for a year, thus conducting a full sky survey of the Zodiac. |