An annual event over recent years, the I Heart Pluto Festival in Flagstaff, Arizona, celebrates the history, heritage, and cutting-edge astronomy at Lowell Observatory. On Feb. 18, 1930, the young astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, considered for decades a planet and “demoted” to dwarf planet status in 2008. Following the discovery, Tombaugh traveled down Mars Hill, where the observatory stands, to Flagstaff’s Orpheum Theater and watched Gary Cooper in the pre-code western The Virginian.
Now, 95 years later, we celebrated Tombaugh’s achievement with a festival that spanned from Thursday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 16, and with the main event on Saturday evening, the 15th within the Orpheum Theater.
Great minds
On that Saturday night, I was privileged to host and moderate a panel discussion with three distinguished men. Many astronomy enthusiasts know of Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator of the New Horizons spacecraft mission that conducted a flyby of the Pluto system in 2015. Stern is an outspoken critic of the “demotion” and also a multifaceted space traveler, administrator, and explorer, as well as his main duty as a planetary scientist. David Levy also joined us, speaking as the principal biographer of Clyde Tombaugh and Tombaugh’s longtime close friend, as well as the co-discoverer of the amazing comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, that crashed into Jupiter in 1994.
Our special guest and new wonderful friend is Adam Nimoy, the son of Leonard Nimoy, beloved actor who portrayed Spock in the Star Trek television series and feature films, and an accomplished director, writer, and attorney. Our panel discussion that night in the theater lasted some 90 minutes and explored all manner of questions and answers about Pluto, Lowell Observatory, Clyde Tombaugh, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, and of course Leonard Nimoy and Star Trek, the latter really delighting the enthusiastic audience. It was simply an amazing event to be a part of.
Much celebration
Quite a few other events took place during the festival. On Thursday, at Flagstaff’s Mother Road Brewery, we dedicated a new beer, To Boldly Go, which commemorated Pluto and Star Trek. This accompanied a version of Astronomy on Tap, in which quiz questions were offered to multiple teams. Lowell’s Dark Sky Planetarium also featured on Friday a show focused on the big questions of the cosmos, such as exploring whether we are along in the universe. A Pluto pub crawl followed.
Saturday was the big day, and we began with many festival activities at Lowell itself, welcoming more than 1,500 visitors to the observatory’ spectacular new Astronomy Discovery Center. The Night of Discovery at the Orpheum featured a VIP reception with Nimoy, Stern, Levy, and me. Our discussion was preceded by dignitaries such as Flagstaff’s mayor, Becky Daggett, and Arizona legislator Justin Wilmeth. Afterward, a book signing capped off the evening.
Sunday brought yet more events. KNAU science reporter Melissa Sevigny steered a great interview discussion and talk by Nimoy, which illuminated many aspects of his life, his father’s career, and their complex relationship. Numerous folks were happy to snatch up a copy of Nimoy’s book, The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy. It was particularly fascinating to hear Nimoy’s discussion of his favorite episodes of the original series of Star Trek, among many other subjects.
The last big event on Sunday was really wonderful: a screening of the film Nimoy produced about his father, For the Love of Spock. All I will say is that if you are or ever have been interested in Star Trek, seeing this great film is essential.
Late Saturday night, Levy and I drove back to Tucson, exhausted by several days of great activities and looking forward to next year’s incarnation of the great I Heart Pluto Festival. If you have a chance to attend this event, I cannot encourage you strongly enough to do so. It is simply wonderful.
