On 29 October 2010, my wife, Laurraine, and I, along with several alumni and staff from Indiana University, had the opportunity for a special visit to the Kitt Peak National Observatory, courtesy of the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences (my alma mater). For some of us (like Laurraine and me), this was our sixth special visit! For others, it was their first time at Kitt Peak. We first got a "behind-the-scenes" look at the Mayall 4-meter telescope. We then had dinner, catered by a Native American from the local Tohono O'odham Nation. Following dinner, we went to the catwalk around the 2.1-meter telescope dome to view the sunset. We capped off the night by viewing several objects through the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope (yes, the telescope has an 138-inch diameter mirror!) prior to the start of formal research by the staff and astronomers.

What follows are some of the 139 photographs I took during the visit to Kitt Peak. I used my new Nikon D7000 DSLR camera. I just received it 5 days earlier so I was still learning to use it. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Entrance


Visitor Center


Example mirror sizes at Kitt Peak


WIYN 3.5m diagram


Kitt Peak poster


Some observatories on the walk to the Mayall 4-meter telescope (on the right)

The Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, with WIYN in the palm of his hand, and his wife

The view from near the top of the Mayall 4-meter dome


WIYN 0.9-meter and WIYN 3.5-meter (taken from Mayall dome)


Mayall 4-meter telescope


Mayall 4-meter telescope control room


Finderscope on the Mayall 4-meter telescope


Mirror aluminizing tank


Outside of the 4-meter telescope pier


Inside the 4-meter telescope pier




Kitt Peak mountain shadow at sunset (left of McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope)


Sunset and WIYN


2.1-meter telescope


The group at the 2.1-meter telescope


2.1-meter telescope poster


The group outside the WIYN 3.5 telescope after sunset


WIYN 3.5 telescope and the 2" eyepiece (right edge) we would use


The group inside the WIYN 3.5 telescope dome




The western sky from inside the WIYN dome


We had a "technical glitch"




The filter wheel was stuck on the red filter


Problem solved, re-installing the filter wheel


Primary 3.5-meter mirror


Primary 3.5-meter mirror controls

And now for some unique images I was able to capture with the D7000 DSLR from inside the darkened dome. These were all hand-held, with slow shutter speeds at very high ISO settings.

Some stars as seen through the dome slit with the 3.5-meter telscope in the foreground


The constellation of Cassiopeia as seen through the dome slit


Stars and the Mayall 4-meter telescope dome


The Pleiades (on the left) and some observatory domes


Jupiter as seen through the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope (note the Great Red Spot and cloud bands)
[taken afocally through the 2" eyepiece using the 18mm lens]

During the night, we were able to view the following objects through the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope:

M11, Open Star Cluster
M15, Globular Star Cluster
Jupiter
Uranus
M57, the Ring Nebula
NGC 891, Edge-on Galaxy
M32, Galaxy
NGC 6826, Blinking Nebula
NGC 7662, Blue Snowball
NGC 7009, Saturn Nebula

At the end of the night, we had some snacks provided by Jeff Stuckey, who made this special visit to WIYN happen (that's Jeff in the red in the photo below).

WIYN 3.5-meter telescope control room

Many thanks to Jeff, the Dean, and of course, a special thanks to the IU Astronomy Department and WIYN Staff for allowing us to have a very special night at the 3.5-meter telescope.

See our other Kitt Peak visit reports:

• 2009 Gallery
• 2008 Gallery
• 2006 Gallery
• 2005 Gallery
• 2002 Gallery
• 1974 Gallery

See all of our Observatory Visits.

Visit Mike's Cassiopeia Observatory web site.

Go to our Home Page.