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October 21, 2009

Midday on Kitt Peak
by astronomer William K. Hartmann, May 2009

Professional space artists will be on Kitt Peak from October 18-23 to create artwork in celebration of the 50th anniversary of our national observatory. They intend to generate dozens of new works related to astronomy and the observatory. Exploring the territory where science and art overlap, a firm foundation of knowledge and research is the basis for each painting. They communicate a binding dream of adventure and exploration. The artists welcome interaction with visitors to the observatory.

October 9, 2009

Yale/WIYN Survey

Opportunity to participate in the Yale/WIYN Survey

August 28, 2009

Composite image showing a view of Kitt Peak looking north from near the location of the 0.9m dome. Left: a re-discovered image from Dr. Aden Meinel taken during his first visit to the summit while scouting potential sites for the National Observatory. Right: image from Dr. John Glaspey from April 2009, shows the changes that have taken place in the last 50 years.

July 13, 2009

Image credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and NOAO/AURA/NSF (for details see Conditions of Use)

The Medusa nebula, known scientifically as Abell 21, is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. It is estimated to be over 4 light-years across. This image was taken on Oct 24th, 2008 at the Mayall telescope with the mosaic camera, with [OIII] (assigned a blue color) and H-alpha (orange) filters.

This image was released during the 100 Hours of Astronomy webcast, "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" held from April 3-4, 2009, during the International Year of Astronomy 2009. View the recorded event from KPNO. See also this image of NGC 6520 from CTIO, which was also released during the webcast.

May 27, 2009

On April 1, Buell Jannuzi, Director of Kitt Peak National Observatory and David Silva, Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory held the annual State of KPNO and NOAO for mountain staff, who gathered at the Visitors Center. A Human Resources representative was on hand to help Buell and Dave acknowledge several people with the AURA (Length of) Service awards.

Two of our Visitors Center employees were recognized; John Zum Brunnen received his 5-Year Award and Sharmain Garcia received her 10-Year Award. Within the Facilities group, Miguel Grijalva received his 25-Year Award, Jose Montes received his 30-Year Award, and Hector Rios and Tilferd Cachora both received their 35-Year Awards. Skip Andree, in the mountain support group, received his 40-Year Award. Congratulations to all!

April 17, 2009

Celebrating 50 years!
Kitt Peak National Observatory

Kitt Peak was selected in 1958 as the site for a national observatory from a survey that included more than 150 mountain ranges across the United States. Located on lands of the Tohono O’odham Nation in the Sonoran Desert southwest of Tucson, Arizona, Kitt Peak today is home to the world’s largest collection of optical telescopes under desert skies that continue to be some of the finest in the world for astronomical observations.

We will be hosting a series of events in Tucson and on Kitt Peak throughout the anniversary, including open houses, special speakers and a special pullout section in the Arizona Daily Star. And there is more to come, so please be sure to check back with us often!
For more information visit the 50th anniversary website.

October 8, 2008

Big Galaxy Collisions Can Stunt Star Formation

A deep new image of the Virgo cluster has revealed monumental tendrils of ionized hydrogen gas 400,000 light-years long connecting the elliptical galaxy M86 and the disturbed spiral galaxy NGC 4438. Taken with the wide-field Mosaic imager on the National Science Foundation’s Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, this Hydrogen-alpha image and related spectroscopic measurements of the filament provide striking evidence of a previously unsuspected high-speed collision between the two galaxies, creating enough heat to slow down and even stop star formation in the galaxy. For more, see NOAO Press Release PR-0807.

August 28, 2008

QUOTA image of the open star cluster NGC 6791

WIYN One Degree Imager (ODI)
Prototype Camera

The Quad-OTA CCD camera, QUOTA, has just completed an engineering run at the WIYN telescope. An OTA is a Orthogonal Transfer CCD Array and are the new generation of orthogonal transfer CCDs (OTCCD) being developed at the WIYN observatory. OTCCDs are special purpose CCDs that, when used with the NOAO developed MONSOON controller, allow the collected charge to be moved within the array during integration. Fast imaging of one or more bright guide stars in certain parts of the array allow atmospheric and other motion compensation to be made in the form of low order tip-tilt corrections. WIYN has operated the original prototype OTCCD camera, OPTIC, for over 4 years.
Full article here.

August 4, 2008

New Director of the WIYN Observatory

Astronomer Pierre Martin, director of science operations at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), has been selected as the new director of the WIYN Observatory, which operates 3.5-meter and 0.9-meter telescopes on Kitt Peak.

Starting September 22, Martin succeeds George Jacoby, who will return to the scientific staff of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). For more, see WIYN Press Release.

April 1, 2008

Night Vision Atop Kitt Peak

Image Credit: James Gregg/Arizona Daily Star

Senior Program Coordinator Robert T. Wilson views Saturn through a telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on April 7. Kitt Peak National Observatory nears its 50th year and remains a vital presence in the astronomy community. Watch our website for information on upcoming events to help us celebrate!

NOAO is the national center for ground-based nighttime astronomy in the United States and is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. If you would like information about solar astronomy, visit the National Solar Observatory. If you would like information about radio astronomy, visit the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.