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  2. Mid-Scale Observatories — Kitt Peak National Observatory
  3. Telescopes
  4. Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope
  5. Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope

Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope

The Kitt Peak National Observatory is located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation. With over twenty optical and two radio telescopes, it is one of the largest gatherings of astronomical instruments in the northern hemisphere.

The Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, named for the former Director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory, was the second-largest telescope by aperture at the time of its first light in 1973. The eighteen-story telescope, located just below the summit of Kitt Peak, can be seen from over fifty miles away. Today it is the largest in Kitt Peak National Observatory. The facility is well known for discovering methane ice on Pluto.

For scientists: More details can be found on the basic parameters page.

Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope

Name(s) Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Status Operational
Broad Science Goals

Wide-field optical and infrared imaging and spectroscopy to 2018

DESI multi-object optical spectroscopy since 2019
Site Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, USA
Location Coordinates 111º 35’ 59.6’W
31º 57’ 50.50’N
Altitude 2123.2m MSL
Enclosure  
Type  
Optical Design Ritchey-Chretien Reflector Telescope
Field of View 3 degrees (DESI)
Diameter: Primary M1 4.0 m; masked to 3.797 m
Material: Primary M1 Fused quartz
Diameter: Secondary M2 1192 mm (prior to DESI installation)
Material: Secondary M2  
Mount The equatorial mounting has an inclination of 32 degrees with a "horseshoe" bearing (right ascension, perpendicular to earth's axis) and a perpendicular bearing (declination)
First Light Date 1973

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Updated on May 27, 2021, 6:19 am