Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Kitt Peak National Observatory ( Kitt Peak National Observatory ) is a large astronomical observatory on the summit of the 2095 m high Kitt Peak in the Sonoran Desert, 65.4 km ( straight line ) southwest of Tucson, Arizona.

The Kitt Peak was selected in 1958 as the site of the U.S. National Observatory. Today the observatory is home to around 20 optical telescopes, of which the Mayall Telescope and the WIYN Telescope with main mirrors of 4 m and 3.5 m in diameter are the largest. The Spacewatch project has two reflector telescopes of 1.8 m and 0.9 m in diameter for the observation of asteroids and comets, in particular for the detection of near-Earth objects. To observe the sun are at Kitt Peak McMath - Pierce the Solar Telescope, the largest solar telescope in the world, and the Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope available. Finally, the Kitt Peak also hosts two radio telescopes of 12 m and 25 m in diameter. The latter is used in conjunction with other radio telescopes in the Very Long Baseline Array radio as astronomical interferometer.

Interior view of the solar telescope

Building of the Mayall Telescope

Mayall Telescope

Building of the 2.4 m Hiltner telescope

12 m radio telescope

2.3 m Bok telescope

Stewart 0.9 m telescope ( 1921), Right: 2.1m telescope