Arizona wildfire may spare Kitt Peak National Observatory’s telescopes
Located in the mountains outside Tucson, Arizona, the Kitt Peak National Observatory was threatened last week by the ongoing Contreras Fire. While the blaze has affected more than 20,000 acres and disrupted work at the facility, the major scientific equipment seems to be thus far unscathed.
Update on #Contrerasfire at @KittPeakNatObs: NOIRLab leadership viewed all scientific structures from a distance today. They report that all physical scientific observatory structures are still standing, but several non-science buildings were lost. https://t.co/BtOZYTX92h (1/7) pic.twitter.com/BGhfILNisA
— Kitt Peak National Observatory (@KittPeakNatObs) June 19, 2022
The scientific community feared the worst, but over the weekend, the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), the organization that operates the site, had good news to share. “All physical scientific observatory structures are still standing,” NOIRLab said in a tweet spotted by Gizmodo. However, in a later press release, the organization said the fire destroyed four support buildings on June 17th.
The facility’s official Twitter account said NOIRLab staff would have to conduct a thorough assessment of the observatory grounds to determine the extent of the full damage caused by the inferno. “This process will likely take …read more
