Steward Observatory
Steward Observatory |
| Organization | University of Arizona |
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| Location | Tucson, Arizona, USA |
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| Coordinates | (32.2333N, 110.9483W) |
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| Altitude | 792.5 m (2600 feet) |
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| Weather | (# of clear nights, humidity) |
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| Webpage | http://www.as.arizona.edu/ |
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| Telescopes |
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| Catalina Station | 1.6 m Kuiper Telescope |
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| Kitt Peak | 12 m Radio
2.3 m (90-in) Bok Telescope
1.8 m Spacewatch telescope
0.9 m Spacewatch telescope |
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| Mount Graham | Heinrich Hertz 10 m Submillimeter Telescope
1.8 m Lennon Telescope
2 x 8.4m Large Binocular Telescope |
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| Mount Hopkins | 6.5 m Multiple Mirror Telescope |
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Mount Lemmon | 1.5 m NASA Telescope
1.0 m telescope |
The
University of Arizona's
Steward Observatory's main office is located on the University's campus and is closely tied to the Department of
Astronomy. Established in
1916 by its first director,
Andrew Ellicott Douglass, and a $60,000 bequest made by
Lavinia Steward in memory of her late husband
Henry B. Steward, the Steward Observatory now owns and operates the
Multiple Mirror Telescope,
Mount Graham International Observatory and a number of other major optical and sub-millimetre telescopes at several sites in the state, such as on
Kitt Peak,
Mount Hopkins and
Mount Lemmon.
Steward Observatory employs over 300 people, including roughly 100 Ph.D. astronomers and 40 graduate students.
Steward Observatory includes several large research groups.The Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics is at the forefront of developments in adaptive optics. The infrared group built the NICMOS instrument for the
Hubble Space Telescope and the MIPS instrument for the
Spitzer Space Telescope. In addition, Steward's Mirror Laboratory has pioneered new techniques of large mirror production, including spin-casting lightweight, honeycomb mirrors. The Mirror Laboratory completed the second mirror for the
Large Binocular Telescope in September, 2005. The Mirror Lab is currently building a prototype off-axis 8.4 meter mirror for the proposed
Giant Magellan Telescope; the GMT design calls for 7 mirrors, 6 of them off-axis, creating an effective aperture of 21.4 meter.
Public tours of Mt. Graham are available.
