Telescope city

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) in Arizona, and its sister observatory Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, are incredibly interesting for the diversity in telescopes at each location.  These observatories are like miniature mountain-top cities, with dynamic citizenships of astronomers and support staff, and skylines dominated by domes that house diverse telescopes.  It is the diversity and the complexity of the instruments that intrigue me, leading me to wander around all of the domes on afternoon walks or during cloudy-nights, when the weather dictates that we take a break from observing. 

As a final Kitt Peak post, I will present a few photographs of the telescopes at Kitt Peak.  In fact, KPNO is so sprawling that I could only visit the telescopes in closest proximity to WIYN.  Others could be viewed from a distance, across the peaks.  In all, KPNO is home to 22 optical and 2 radio telescopes.

The Mayall 4 meter telescope.  This was the 2nd largest optical telescope in 1973.  Its twin, the Blanco 4 meter telescope, was built in Chile a few years later. The Mayall maintains its retro look, especially in the wood-paneled control room.

University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Bok Telescope.  A 90 inch reflector telescope accessible by a spiral staircase, this dome was fondly described to me as the spray-paint can for its unique outward appearance.  The Mayall 4m overlooks in the background.

Left to right, the WIYN 0.9m, a smaller telescope for public outreach, and the WIYN 3.5m telescope.  Notice the 3.5m dome is rather angular, and designed to be very compact.

Here I tried to get as many telescopes as possible in one shot.

And more telescopes.  In the far left is the solar telescope, pictured in a previous post. To the right is the "Spacewatch" telescope, responsible for discovering the asteroid 2005 YU55, which recently passed between the Earth and the moon.