Kitt Peak: One of the World's Great Observatories

Kitt Peak National Observatory, perched at 6,875 feet in the Sonoran Desert southwest of Tucson, is home to one of the largest concentrations of optical telescopes on Earth, with more than 20 instruments operated by universities and research institutions from around the world. The site was chosen for its dark skies, dry air, and over 300 clear nights a year. It sits on land belonging to the Tohono O'odham Nation, who consider Kitt Peak a sacred mountain and granted use of the site under a formal agreement in 1958. The observatory has contributed to some of the most significant astronomical discoveries of the last century, from mapping the structure of the Milky Way to studying dark matter.