Editing Kitt Peak National Observatory (section)

==General information==
[[Kitt Peak]] was selected by its first director, [[Aden B. Meinel]], in 1958 as the site for a national observatory under contract with the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) and was administered by the [[Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy]]. The land was leased from the [[Tohono Oʼodham]] under a perpetual agreement. The second director (1960 to 1971) was [[Nicholas U. Mayall]]. In 1982, NOAO was formed to consolidate the management of three optical observatories — Kitt Peak; the [[National Solar Observatory]] facilities at Kitt Peak and [[Sacramento Peak]], [[New Mexico]]; and the [[Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory]] in [[Chile]]. The observatory sites are under lease from the Tohono O'odham Nation at the amount of a quarter dollar per acre yearly, which was overwhelmingly approved by the Council in the 1950s. In 2005, the Tohono O'odham Nation brought suit against the National Science Foundation to stop further construction of gamma ray detectors in the Gardens of the Sacred Tohono O'odham Spirit I'itoi, which are just below the summit.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Astronomy development on another sacred mountain: Kitt Peak
|url=http://www.mauna-a-wakea.info/maunakea/H4_astrodev.html
|access-date=February 16, 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820093309/http://www.mauna-a-wakea.info/maunakea/H4_astrodev.html
|archive-date=August 20, 2008
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

The largest optical instruments at KPNO are the [[Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope|Mayall 4 meter telescope]] and the [[WIYN Consortium|WIYN]] [[WIYN Observatory|3.5-meter telescope]]; there are also several two- and one-meter class telescopes. The [[McMath–Pierce solar telescope]] was for many decades<ref>The [[Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope]] is now the largest.</ref> the largest [[solar telescope]] in the world and the largest unobstructed reflector (no secondary mirror in the path of incoming light). The [[ARO 12m Radio Telescope]] is also at the location.

Kitt Peak is famous for hosting the first telescope (an old 91&nbsp;cm reflector) used to search for [[near-Earth asteroid]]s, and calculating the probability of an impact with [[Earth|planet Earth]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/
 |title       = The Spacewatch Project
 |access-date  = December 13, 2017
}}</ref>

Kitt Peak hosts an array of programs for the public to take part in, including:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://visitkittpeak.org/tours-programs/ |title=Kitt Peak Visitor Center Tours, Stargazing, Programs, and Exhibits |access-date=June 2, 2022}}</ref>
* Daytime tours, speaking about the history of the observatory as well as touring a major research telescope.
* The Nightly Observing Program (NOP), which allows visitors to arrive in the late afternoon, watch the sunset, and use binoculars and telescopes to view the cosmos.
* Additionally, there is the Overnight Telescope Observing Program (OTOP). This program allows for a one-on-one, full night of observing using any of the visitor center's telescopes. Guests may choose to do [[DSLR]] imaging, [[Charge-coupled device|CCD]] imaging, or simply take in the sights with their eye to the telescope.

[[File:Iotw2314a - The Belt of Venus over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.jpg|thumb|left|The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope]]

Kitt Peak's Southeastern Association for Research and Astronomy (SARA) Telescope was featured in the WIPB-PBS documentary, "Seeing Stars in Indiana". The project followed SARA astronomers from Ball State University to the observatory and featured time-lapse images from various points around Kitt Peak.<ref>{{cite video
 | year = 2011
 | title = Seeing Stars In Indiana
 | url = http://vimeo.com/24060942
 | access-date = February 17, 2012
 | people=Kevin Grazioli (director)
 | editor=Grant Keller
<!-- producer: Kevin Grazioli; director of photography: Joe Vella; camera: Andrew Bissonnette; audio: Derek Cox; post_audio: Paul Schwarz; narrator: Travis -->
}}</ref>

A major project started in the 2010s is the [[Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument]]  (DESI) for the 4-meter Mayall telescope, for conducting spectrographic [[astronomical survey]]s of distant [[galaxies]] probing the [[Expansion of the universe|expansion history of the universe]] and the mysterious physics of [[dark energy]].<ref name="desiTDR">{{cite web |url=http://desi.lbl.gov/tdr/ |title=DESI Design Report  |editor-last=Bebek |editor-first=C.J. |date=2015-06-15 |access-date= 2016-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.livescience.com/61791-pencil-robots-may-solve-universe-mysteries.html |title=How 5,000 Pencil-Size Robots May Solve the Mysteries of the universe |first=Tereza |last=Pultarova |journal=Live Science |date=February 16, 2018}}</ref>