Michael A. Stecker
Places Index
Kitt Peak National
Observatory |
The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), founded in 1958, is located 55 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona on a 2,096 m (6,880 ft) peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert (part of the Tohono O'odham Nation). KPNO operates three major nighttime telescopes, shares site responsibilities with the National Solar Observatory and hosts the facilities of consortia which operate 19 optical telescopes and two radio telescopes. The observatory is run by the National Science Foundation and is considered to be part of the three member National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) -- Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile and the Gemini Telescopes (NOAO Gemini Science Center) in Hawaii and Chile. Some of the telescopes at Kitt Peak are independently run like the MDM Observatory (University of Michigan, et. al.). Kitt Peak at 31° 58' N, 111° 36' W,
has the world's largest collection of optical telescopes, 22 optical
and two radio telescopes representing eight astronomical research
institutions. Kitt Peak
National Observatory National
Solar Observatory WIYN
Observatory (Wisconsin Indiana Yale & NOAO) 0.6-meter Burrell Schmidt 1.2-meter Calypso 1.3-meter McGraw Hill 2.4-meter Hiltner MIT/NASA Observatory 0.18-meter ETC/RMT (Explosive Transient Camera/Rapidly Moving Telescope) SARA Observatory (Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy) 0.9-meter 2.3-meter Bok Reflector 0.9-meter Spacewatch 1.8-meter Spacewatch WHAM (Wisconsin Hydrogen Alpha Mapping) 0.6-meter
see: Kitt Peak Home Page Kitt Peak Virtual Tour Note: 1.0 meter = 39.37 inches |
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