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KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

Summary rating: 4 stars (4 Ratings)
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Book Abstract by: sajeev vasudevan

Author : A.VASUDEVAN
Published: October 11, 2006
Kitt Peak National Observatory, located 84 km (52 mi) southwest of Tucson, Ariz., on top of the 2,100-m (7,000-ft) Kitt Peak, is one of the world's major astronomical research centers. It was founded in 1958 by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), a nonprofit consortium of 17 universities that operates the observatory under contract with the U.S. National Science Foundation.The observatory does research in solar, planetary, stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy. It has 15 telescopes, among them reflectors with apertures of 158 in (4 m), 84 in (2.1 m), and 51 in (1.3 m), the 60-in (1.5-m) Robert McMath solar telescope, and a 24-in (61-cm) solar vacuum telescope; the McMath telescope is the world's largest solar telescope. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory also operates a 36-ft-diameter (11-m) radio telescope at Kitt Peak. Using interferometers and image-enhancement techniques (see image processing), astronomers at Kitt Peak photographed for the first time the surface of a star (Betelgeuse) other than the Sun.

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  1. 0 Ratings Tuesday, June 23, 2009
    1

    BenUriel

    Kitt Peak National Observatory

    Thank you for your review. I remember visiting Kitt Peak as a child in the spring of 1966 - Tucson was hot but on Kitt Peak there was snow everywhere. It was an incredible experience. There was a very nice museuma and the solar telescope already in existence was fascinating. It is interesting and gratifying to see Kitt Peak still playing an important role in astronomical research after so many years.

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