Learning about astronomy at Kitt Peak!
One of the things we noticed about Tucson is its lack of street lights. For a city, it's really dark! We asked why and the answer we got: Kitt Peak! Kitt Peak is a national observatory founded in the 1950's and operated by the National Optimal Astronomy Observatory (NOAO.) "With 24 optical and two radio telescopes, it is the largest, most diverse gathering of astronomical instruments in the world". [1] It sits on the Tohono O'odham reservation south of Tucson, at an elevation of 6,880 ft.
Our group used this telescope. Curt and I got to operate the dome!
Kitt Peak 'democratized' access to large telescopes for astronomers. Astronomers apply and allotted time based on an evaluation of the scientific merit of their studies.
Visitor Center
Kitt Peak offers a nighttime program for beginning astronomers — hey, that's us!— so we signed up. (You can learn more about the programs offered, here.) We tried to go at the beginning of March, but bad weather got in the way. Three weeks later, we had no problem with the sky (clear and no moon) but the temperature was the pits. It was only in the 20s and we were outside for a good portion of the 5 hour program!
Watching the sunset was part of the tour of the telescopes. It was cold...and about to get much colder!
Some highlights of the night:
- We learned a lot about light pollution — and were amazed by how much we could see with the naked eye at Kitt Peak vs as we got closer to Tucson.
- We saw the International Space Station zoom by (it travels at some 17,000 miles per hour and goes around the earth once every 90 minutes!) You really just need to know where to look.
- We learned how to use start charts and got a lovely tour of the constellations - green laser pointers are quite effective!
- We used binoculars and were surprised by how much more we could see. And got to see a falling star while looking for the seven sisters. (They use 7x50...small birding binoculars don't work for watching the night skies.)
- We got to view a few things in the telescope...and Curt and I got to move the dome. (We were seated right by the switch!)
It was a great night and $50 well spent. If you go...wear long-underwear and bring blankets!
The 4 meter telescope is on the right; it was the original. They now build them differently, as shown at left. (Dean our guide outside said the flat top isn't great though because, "When it snows someone has to shovel the roof!)
The telescope on the right was were a woman(!) astronomer first discovered dark matter! (Accordingly Dean our guide...."They didn't believe her until they confirmed it using the 4-meter." (That's the telescope in the photo above this one.)