Kitt Peak National Observatory

Kitt Peak National Observatory astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Its principal instrument is the Mayall 158-in. (4-m) reflector. The observatory's equipment also includes 84-in. (2.1 m), 50-in. (1.3-m), 36-in. (0.9-m), and 16-in. (0.4-m) reflecting telescopes as well as a planned 3.5-m telescope. Used for wide angle photographs and electronic images of the sky, the Burrell Schmidt telescope is operated jointly with Case Western Reserve Univ. The 60-in. (1.5-m) Robert McMath Solar Telescope is the largest instrument of its kind in the world. Stellar research, now part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, includes basic research on galaxies, stars, nebulae, and the solar system. The solar division, now part of the National Solar Observatory, using the solar telescope in coordination with a vacuum spectrograph, analyzes the composition, magnetic field strength, motion, and physical nature of the sun. Other telescopes are located on Kitt Peak, notably those of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Steward Observatory. Any astronomer can apply for time on the telescopes. A telescope allocation committee of astronomers selects the best proposals and time is assigned every six months.

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) An observatory at an altitude of 2120 m on Kitt Peak in the Quinlan Mountains 90 km southwest of Tucson, Arizona. It was founded in 1958 and is now part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). Its largest telescope is the 4-m Mayall Telescope, opened in 1973. The 3.5-m WIYN Telescope was opened in 1994. Other KNPO instruments are a 2.1-m reflector for optical and infrared observations, opened in 1964, and a 0.9-m reflector opened in 1960 but operated by the WIYN consortium since 2001. Also on Kitt Peak are two telescopes of the National Solar Observatory, originally the solar division of KPNO but which became a separate organization in 1984: the McMath–Pierce Solar Telescope and the Solar Vacuum Tower. Telescopes owned by other institutions are also sited at KPNO. These include the 1.3-m Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT), a KPNO telescope from 1965 to 1995 but subsequently transferred to the RCT Consortium of five institutions and reopened in 2003; a 1.2-m reflector of the privately owned Calypso Observatory, opened in 1999; a 0.9-m reflector which was a KPNO telescope from 1966 to 1990 but was then transferred to the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) consortium and reopened in 1995; the 0.6-m Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) telescope, opened 1996; and the 0.6-m Burrell Schmidt of Case Western Reserve University, Ohio (originally opened in 1946 and moved to Kitt Peak in 1979); and a 25-m dish of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's VLBA network. The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory and the MDM Observatory are also sited on Kitt Peak but they are not part of KPNO. http://www.noao.edu/kpno/

KPNO Abbr. for Kitt Peak National Observatory.