Kitt Peak celebrates 60 years of public tours

Kitt Peak National Observatory is marking its 60th anniversary for public tours this month. The research facility is welcoming visitors at 1964 prices on Friday.

Visitors Center Operations manager Peter McMahon notes the observatory is as valuable for astronomers today as when it first opened.

"You could argue there are more major optical research telescopes on Kitt Peak than anywhere else in the world," he said. "They are discovering everything from planets around other stars to mapping out the universe in 3-D, to finding out about the expansion history of the universe and dark matter, and doing all kinds of cutting edge things."

Astronomical research at Kitt Peak was interrupted by the Contreras fire in 2022. McMahon says the scenic drive up the mountain has been repaired and improved during the recovery.

"You can see a little bit of that damage but for the most part it's back to the point where it's this beautiful sky island where you can see all the different types of foliage that you would not see on the desert floor, like oak and pine and so on."

The blaze burned some of the support buildings at the site but firefighters kept the telescopes atop the summit safe. Workers have built a new-look visitor's center along with what will soon be the second largest public telescope on Earth.