Kitt Peak at Dusk

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, is shown here at dusk. In the foreground is the WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope while standing prominently on the far left hilltop is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope. The pinkish band near the horizon is known as the Belt of Venus, an atmospheric phenomenon created by sunlight scattered in Earth’s atmosphere shortly after sunset, right above the Earth Shadow.

NOIRLab operates the Mayall telescope on behalf of the US Department of Energy's Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. NOIRLab also hosts facilities belonging to a number of consortia that operate more than a dozen optical telescopes and two radio telescopes between them. KPNO is located 90 kilometers (56 miles) southwest of Tucson, Arizona, at an altitude of 2096 meters (6877 feet) in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

This image was taken before the 2022 Contreras Fire, which affected KPNO. Read more here.