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Apr 27 2002
19:09:11
Large
Saguaro cactus which lives only in Arizona at sunset near the Ajo Road (AZ
86) near Kitt Peak
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Apr 27 2002
19:10:55
Another
sunset picture taken by the side of the road
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Apr 28 2002
08:32:04
Closest
hotel to Kitt Peak - very basic accomodations, but good food at the attached
restaurant.
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Apr 28 2002
09:13:59
Hummer at
the entrance (AZ 86 and AZ 386, which leads to the observatory). Antenna on the
back corner of the vehicle is for amateur radio shortwave transmission.
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Apr 28 2002
09:16:36
AZ 386
leading to Kitt Peak. This road goes straight to the base of the mountain,
then up a about a mile in the next 7.
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Apr 28 2002
09:42:02
Entrance to
Kitt Peak, which houses a collection of telescopes operated by various
universities. It is one of the largest collections of telescopes in the
world, and Kitt Peak has the best "seeing" in Arizona and much of
the Desert Southwest. The observatory in the background is the 2.1 Meter (84
inch) optical telescope.
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Apr 28 2002
09:42:39
View of the
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, the heart of the National Solar Observatory at
Kitt Peak. This is is the largest telescope in the world for the study of the
Sun.
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Apr 28 2002
09:44:38
Me in the
visitor center area with the 2.1 Meter telescope in the background.
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Apr 28 2002
09:45:30
Me at the
visitor center with the McMath Pierce Solar Telescope in the background.
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Apr 28 2002
09:48:21
Display of
the relative sizes of telescope mirrors in use at Kitt Peak. The smallest
silver disk is 16 inches, the size of the telescope that is used for visitor
observing (just outside the visitor center). The largest disk is 4 meters
across, the size of the largest telescope on the mountain. For scale, you can
see me in the red jacket reflected in the mirrors.
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Apr 28 2002
09:49:02
Optical
Path diagram of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. Note that 2/3rds of the
optical path is below ground. The telescope is fixed, with heliostats (large
flat mirrors that are motor controlled) on top which reflect the image of the
sun down to the main objective mirror mounted at the bottom of the sloping
500' tunnel, which gives the telescope its distinctive shape.
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Apr 28 2002
09:50:56
2.1 meter
telescope dome. The angular building to it's right in the picture is the WIYN
3.5 meter telescope facility, which is the newest telescope on Kitt Peak,
completed in 1994.
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Apr 28 2002
10:42:35
Detail of
the top of the Solar Telescope. The Heliostats are mounted up there (the
telescope was not operating due to cloud cover when this picture was taken).
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Apr 28 2002
10:52:30
Secondary
mirror of the McMath Pierce Solar Telescope. This mirror takes light coming
off the primary (down the tunnel to the left) and reflects it down through
the hole in the plexiglass shield you can see. The imaging room is beneath
that shield and contains all the instruments that record the Sun. This telescope
produces an image of the sun 30 inches across.
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Apr 28 2002
10:52:46
Looking up
the tunnel towards the Heliostats. Note that we are standing at ground level.
this is only 1/3rd of the image path.
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Apr 28 2002
10:58:13
One of the
secondary mirrors. This is a first surface mirror, you can see the image of
the track below the mirror reflected in it's surface.
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Apr 28 2002
11:10:02
View toward
Mexico (18 miles away) Most of the stuff you can see behind this mountain in
the foreground is in Mexico.
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Apr 28 2002
11:19:57
Collection
of Telescopes. The highest dome is the Mayall 4 Meter,
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Apr 28 2002
11:21:44
View
towards the West from Kitt Peak. The large "knob" mountain top
sticking up is the holiest mountain of the Tohono O'odham Indian tribe on
whose reservation Kitt Peak is built.
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Apr 28 2002
11:21:55
View
towards the North from Kitt Peak (behind the 2.1 meter telescope)
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Apr 28 2002
11:23:23
Inside the
2.1 Meter telescope. The blue section is the "fork" which holds the
telescope cage (the white section). This telescope has 2 mirrors, one on the
bottom the primary, which reflects light up to secondary mirror (in the
center of the upper rings), then back down through the center of the primary
and into the instruments (sticking out the bottom of the telescope). The
primary is 84 inches across (2.1 meters)
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Apr 28 2002
11:28:55
Uncommon
view: McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope with cloud cover.
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Apr 28 2002
11:33:51
WIYN 3.5
meter (137 inch) telescope - operated for the WIYN consoritium - Univ. of
Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University and the National Optical
Astronomy Observatories. This telescope uses "active optics" to
construct its primary mirror - 66 separate actuators tilt pieces of the
primary mirror to construct the image of the telescope (all new large
telescopes use this type of design). This telescope produces the best images
on the mountain, although it is smaller than the Mayall 4 meter telescope.
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Apr 28 2002
11:41:13
View ot the
north leaving Kitt Peak.
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