Press Releases

Contreras Fire Reaches Kitt Peak National Observatory

Organization Release: 21 June 2022 — noirlab2213

Contreras Fire Reaches Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Contreras Fire reached the Kitt Peak National Observatory during the early morning of Friday 17 June 2022. We are working with the firefighters at the site to assess the damage and will share details about the facilities as we learn more. We remain in an active fire situation with rapidly changing conditions.
Mosaic of a sample of disks found in new survey

Photo Release: 15 June 2022 — noirlab2212

Dusty Disks Imaged from NSF’s NOIRLab

This mosaic of dusty, swirling disks shows a sample of images captured from the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, as part of an unprecedented survey of 44 young massive stars. An international team used Gemini South in Chile to investigate planet formation and uncovered a potential young Jupiter-mass planet, and confirmed the existence of two brown dwarfs. The images will be presented in sessions today at the 240th American Astronomical Society meeting.
Uranus and Neptune

Science Release: 31 May 2022 — noirlab2211

Gemini North Telescope Helps Explain Why Uranus and Neptune Are Different Colors

Astronomers may now understand why the similar planets Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations from the Gemini North telescope, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have developed a single atmospheric model that matches observations of both planets. The model reveals that excess haze on Uranus builds up in the planet’s stagnant, sluggish atmosphere and makes it appear a lighter tone than Neptune.
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510

Photo Release: 3 May 2022 — noirlab2210

Galactic Ballet Captured from NSF’s NOIRLab in Chile

The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the-art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of merging with its smaller galactic neighbor for 400 million years, and this drawn-out interaction has ignited waves of star formation.
Galaxy NGC 772

Photo Release: 22 March 2022 — noirlab2209

Strong-Arming a Galaxy

The overdeveloped spiral arm of the galaxy NGC 772, which was created by tidal interactions with an unruly neighbor, dominates this observation made by astronomers using the Gemini North telescope located near the summit of Maunakea in Hawai‘i. NGC 772’s peculiar appearance has earned it a place as the 78th entry in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies — a rogues’ gallery of weird and wonderful galaxy structures.

Images of the Week

When Hemispheres Connect

22 June 2022 — iotw2225

When Hemispheres Connect
A Hexagonal Galactic Center

15 June 2022 — iotw2224

A Hexagonal Galactic Center
Starry Night, Laser Light

8 June 2022 — iotw2223

Starry Night, Laser Light
Maunakea Above the Clouds

1 June 2022 — iotw2222

Maunakea Above the Clouds
A Galaxy of Birth and Death

25 May 2022 — iotw2221

A Galaxy of Birth and Death
Total Lunar Eclipse over Cerro Tololo

18 May 2022 — iotw2220

Total Lunar Eclipse over Cerro Tololo
Lunar Eclipse over Kitt Peak

11 May 2022 — iotw2219

Lunar Eclipse over Kitt Peak
Cerro Tololo Light Show

4 May 2022 — iotw2218

Cerro Tololo Light Show
Like Painting with Light

27 April 2022 — iotw2217

Like Painting with Light
What Goes Up, Must Come Down

20 April 2022 — iotw2216

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

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Striking image shows mass distribution of nearby galaxy cluster

17 May 2022

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Rubin Observatory and Its Target

20 April 2022

How Rubin will uncover secrets of the Milky Way’s history
Vera C. Rubin Observatory and transient objects

5 April 2022

Tracking transients with Rubin
Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón

4 March 2022

Vera C. Rubin Observatory: New window on the Universe
Colors of Kitt Peak

15 Feb. 2022

NEID: New hunter of potentially habitable planets

Our Programs

From the first observations in 1965, Cerro Tololo, located in Chile, has served as the principal platform for U.S. astronomical investigation of the southern skies.

Programs within the Community Science and Data Center support and enable a broad range of astronomical community science activities across the US ground-based optical and infrared system.

Founded in 1958, Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to one of the largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes in the world.

The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best observing sites on the planet.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, is an 8-meter-class telescope coupled to a 3.2-gigapixel camera – the world’s largest digital camera ever fabricated for optical astronomy.