Today, we're back on I-10 heading toward Tucson, which is about 36 miles away from the 2nd Bensen exit. Once at the interchange between I-10 and I17/I19, we'll turn to the South until we enter Tohono O'odham nation. A modest sign directs the traveller toward Kitt Peak, where the National Observatory is located. The land through which we travel and the mountain upon which the Observatory is located belong to the Tohono O'odham (called The Papago in error, for many years).
Here's a picture or two of the telescopes that you'd see on Kitt Peak:
First the picture with all the scopes and the blue sky with puffy clouds.The big guy at the right of the screen is the Mayall 4.0 meter telescope. It tracks stars both visually and by measuring infrared and faint visible light. More cool facts:
The bulding below the dome is 18 stories tall. The dome itself has two shells, each of which is capable of moving independently. The scope itself also moves freely (and utterly silently) but it synched up with the movement of the dome.
It was the quietest tour I've ever been on. The reason was pretty basic, and I felt like a dummy that I hadn't figured it out. Astronomers work all night! People are asleep and visitors are asked most clearly to be as quiet as possible.
I made a reference to utterly silent motion. One of the stops on the guided tour was the Mayall. When we entered the telescope's building, the guide pointed out the way the shells and the scope could move independently. He then went into some fairly detailed explanation of the history of the scope and of Kitt Peak.
When he was finished talking, he told us to turn around again.
The telescope had swung 180 degrees, along with the outer and inner shells of the building.
Not one of us had heard so much as one sound.
Totally blew ME away!
The second view shows what the peak looks like if you're standing on the catwalk of the Mayall. It gives you an idea of just how many scopes there are on the mountain.
Kitt Peak is the largest collection of telescopes for astronomical study in the world. Some of the scopes are administered by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, but most are the property of schools, perhaps a consortium of schools from diffferent states. There are 25 optical and 2 radio telescopes on the mountain.
There is also THIS:
This, my friends, is the McMath solar telescope. It's the largest one of its kind in the world. No, you can't look in to see what the sun is going to do next. But astronomers use the telescope for examining the sun and learning more information about it. Recently (not in this picture, a tower telescope dedicated to studying changes in the sun's levels of radiation and solar disturbances was erected near the McMath.
If you can go, I would suggest a tour of the Peak. The access road is realtively long and climbs at about a 7 percent grade, but it's a beautiful drive and gives you a little time to adjust to the change in altitude between Tucson (2,389 feet) and the top of Kitt Peak (6875 feet).
Bring water. Plan on taking your time and rest when your heart starts thumping too hard.
I hope you enjoy the trip, should you have a chance to go. You'll probably come back bursting with facts and wide eyed. That's a good thing...
Because, the seeing in Arizona asa a whole is fantastic. The air over Kitt Peak is remarkably clear and stable. And even the presence of Tucson 20 plus miles away provides minimum problems because lighting ordinances are extremely strict and sodium lighting is used on the roadways.
Even if you never make it to Kitt Peak, try to stay at least one night in a place like just outside Flagstaff, where you can look up and be completely miniaturized by the stars. They're unbelievable. Just plain every day unbelievable. Clear skies clear air and stars in the millions right over your head. Do NOT try this if you're staying in Phoenix. There are a lot of visible stars there, true, but nothing like what's visible in areas outside the cities.
I left the picture quite large because it's so stunning I didn't want to stint.
I hope you've enjoyed this little, tiny glimpse into the sky and the equipment that allows us to see deeper than we can really comprehend. And a view of the stars in the night sky when the seeing is good.
Tomorrow, we'll look at the White Dove of the Desert.
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