Photos: Kitt Peak National Observatory - crown jewel of U.S. observatories
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Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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For more than 60 years, Kitt Peak National Observatory has been the crown jewel of observatories in the southern United States, sitting atop the highest peak in the Quinlan Mountains southwest of Tucson.
KPNO, founded in 1958, which shares the 200-acre mountaintop site with the National Solar Observatory, operates three nighttime telescopes and hosts 22 optical telescopes and two radio telescopes.
KPNO was administered by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory from 1984-2019, when NOAO merged with two other observatories to form NOIRLab, the national center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The 4-Meter Mayall optical telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in September, 1967.
Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969
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Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1969.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Construction of the 500-ton dome the 4-meter (158 inch) Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1968.
Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969
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Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1969.
Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969
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Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1969.
Mayall Telescope
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Dr. Nicholas U. Mayall, Director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory from 1960 to 1971, is seen here observing at the prime focus of the 4-meter telescope on 2 March, 1973. After Dr Mayall’s retirement, the telescope was rededicated on 20 June, 1973, as the Nicholas U. Mayall telescope.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Technicians at Kitt Peak National Observatory's Cherry Ave. shops on the University of Arizona campus, look over the steel cell upon which the 80-inch mirror will be mounted. The Pyrex mirror "blank" from Corning, N.Y., took more than two years to polish.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The massive 4-Meter Mayall telescope during dedication at Kitt Peak National Observatory in June, 1973. At the time, it was the world's second-largest optical telescope.
KPNO, lightning, 1998
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Lightning atop Kitt Peak, looking to the north-west, with the Mayall 4-meter telescope silhouetted against the stormy sky. Taken by Adam Block in July 1998. This picture was a twenty second exposure using Fuji 800 film with a 50mm camera lens.
Mayall Telescope
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Star trails over the Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Bok Telescope, KPNO, 1969
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The 2.3 M Bok Telescope operated by the University of Arizona Steward Observatory at Kitt Peak National Observatory, shown after completion in 1969.
Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The Bok Telescope (front) on Kitt Peak National Observatory, AZ..
Southwest view of McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope during construction
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Southwest view of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope during construction, 27 February 1961.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath Solar Telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1957.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath Solar Telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1957.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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A 1972 architectural rendering of the vertical housing of the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun at Kitt Peak National Observatory
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory nearing completion in 1962.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The skeleton for the 55-foot-tall dome of the 36-foot radio telescope under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1966.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The smallest telescope – a 16-inch – at Kitt Peak National Observatory, ca. 1960.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The 36-foot National Radio Astronomy Observatory telescope inside side its vinyl-coated nylon dome at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1969.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath Solar telescope on its perch at Kitt Peak National Observatory, ca. 1962.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The horseshoe-shaped yolk housing in the 4-Meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1973.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Dr. Bart Bok stands beneath the 90-inch, 100-ton telescope destined for Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1968. Bok was the head of the department of astronomy at the University of Arizona and director of Steward Observatory.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The 4-meter Mayall Telescope, left, at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1975.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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A laser beam from the McMath Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory targets the moon in July, 1971.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The valley floor below Kitt Peak National Observatory, ca. 1960
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath Solar Telescope flanked by snow that fell on Kitt Peak National Observatory in February, 1966,
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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A 10.5-ton fork is lifted into place at the 3.5 Meter WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1992. The fork holds a center section that includes the mirror, which was added later that year.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Jon Settlemyre watches the quart mirror from the 2.1 Meter telescope lowered onto a platform on an realuminizing chamber at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1992. It was transferred to the Mayall Telescope building where the old coatings were stripped off and new ones reapplied.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The lights of Tucson as seen from Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1959 (top) and 1980 (bottom).
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Roman Chavez, vice-chairman of the Papago (now Tohono O'Odham) Tribal Council, points at Kitt Peak in the Quinlan Mountains west of Tucson in 1956, during site and lease discussions for the observatory.
Kitt Peak National Observatory, 1959
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Aerial photo of Kitt Peak on Jan 31, 1959. looking west solar telescope pad at bottom center of the picture.
Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1960: Workers slip explosives into holes to blast away rock.
Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1960: A jackhammer operator pounds away at the rock face.
Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1960: Bulldozers operate on treacherous, unstable material blasted from the the face of the mountain.
Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1960: A truck eases down the early primitive road from near the top. The first telescope on the mountain, the 36-inch, can be seen in the background.
Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory in May, 1960: A dozer operator tackles tree stumps and rock.
Snow in Tucson
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Snow and ice clinging to the telescope structure at Kitt Peak National Observatory west of Tucson on March 3, 1964.
Snow in Tucson
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Snow and ice at Kitt Peak National Observatory on March 3, 1964.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Actuators on the back of the telescope can make minute adjustments in the shape of the mirror surface of the WIYN Telescope, a 3.5 m meter telescope operated by a consortium of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, Yale University and the National Astronomy Observatory. It is located west of Tucson, AZ.Photo taken Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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A view from the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope of some of the other telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory west of Tucson, AZ. The tall telescope at left is The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. Top center is The 2.1-meter Telescope and at right is The WIYN Telescope. Photo taken Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Seen from inside the 780 ft. linear optical tunnel of Kitt Peak National Observatory's McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, sunlight is reflected from the three mirror heliostat, through a series of mirrors in the tunnel to the observation room where is it analyzed with spectrographs. McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, built in 1962, west of Tucson, AZ., is the largest solar telescope in the world. Photo taken Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Lori Allen, left, Director of Kitt Peak National Observatory, is dwarfed by the Nicholas U. Mayhall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory west of Tucson, AZ. . Photo taken Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Matt Penn, Solar Astronomer with National Solar Observatory, discusses telescopes in the observation room of Kitt Peak National Observatory's McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, built in 1962, the largest solar telescope in the world west of Tucson, AZ. Photo taken Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The McMath-Pierce Telescope on Kitt Peak since 1962, LEFT, and the SOLIS (Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun) at right..
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The orange glow of light pollution from Phoenix and Casa Grande lights the skies north of the SARA 0.9 meter, left, the Spacewatch 0.9 meter, the CWRU Burrel Schmidt 0.6 meter, the Steward Observatory's Bok 2.3 meter and the KPNO Mayall 4 meter telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2010.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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The dim glow of saftey lights shines out of the door of the WIYN 0.9 meter telescope where a tour group is using the instrument at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2010.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Stars swirl around the North Star, just to the left of the Kitt Peak observatory, in a 40-minute exposure.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Bob Martino, standing at left, talks to astronomy enthusiasts about some of the stars that are visible at sunset as they listen to him at the 16 inch telescope with its roll-off roof at the top of Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2009. At upper left is the 4-meter Mayall telescope with the city lights of Three Points, AZ at the upper right.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Some of the many observatories at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Aden B. Meinel, First director of Kitt Peak Observatory, photographed in 1993.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Jane Pauley surveys Kitt Peak's solar telescope in 1978.
Contreras Fire, Kitt Peak National Observatory, 2022
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Kitt Peak National Observatory after the Contreras Fire.
Contreras Fire, Kitt Peak National Observatory, 2022
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Kitt Peak National Observatory after the Contreras Fire. The Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope is visible on the ridge on the left hand side of the image.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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