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On Friday afternoon we took a ride to Kitt Peak. Kitt Peak is located in the Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Reservation about 65 miles north and west of Green Valley. From bottom to top the road is about 10 miles and rises to 6,880 feet above sea level. Kit Peak is home to the world's largest collection of research telescopes with twenty-three optical telescopes and two radio telescopes. The site was selected in 1957 after a three year survey of more than 150 sites. The National Science Foundation signed a lease in October of 1958 with the Tribal Council of the Tohono O'odham Nation for the use of 200 acres of the mountaintop under a perpetual agreement that is valid as long as only scientific research facilities are maintained at the sight. The principal instruments at KPNO are the Mayall 4 meter telescope; the WIYN 3.5 meter telescope, the 2.1meter, 1.3 meter, 0.9 meter and 0.4 meter reflecting telescopes. The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope located on the grounds is the largest solar telescope in the world, and the largest unobstructed reflector (it doesn't have a secondary mirror in the path of incoming light). The National Radio Astronomy Observatory 12 meter radio telescope that was decommissioned in 2002 is also in this location. Kitt Peak is also famous for hosting the first telescope (an old 91 centimeter reflector) used to search for near Earth asteroids, and calculating the probability of an impact with planet Earth. All in all it was a very interesting afternoon with some spectacular views. |