The WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope

The Kitt Peak National Observatory is located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation. With over twenty optical and two radio telescopes, it is one of the largest gatherings of astronomical instruments in the northern hemisphere.

The Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOIRLab (WIYN) Observatory is situated atop Kitt Peak National Observatory. It is owned and operated by the WIYN Consortium, which consists of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, NOIRLab, Purdue University and the University of California - Irvine. This partnership between public and private universities and NOIRLab was the first of its kind. The telescope hosts the NEID instrument, which is a state-of-the-art exoplanet-discovery machine. 

For scientists: More details can be found on the telescope overview page.

WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope

Name(s) The WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope
Status Operational
Broad Science Goals  
Site Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, USA
Location Coordinates 31º 95’ N
111º 59’ W
Altitude 2090.0
Enclosure  
Type  
Optical Design Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain.
Field of View 12 arcmin 
Diameter: Primary M1 3.5 meters
Material: Primary M1 borosilicate glass 
Diameter: Secondary M2 1.2 meters
Material: Secondary M2 Zerodur glass
Diameter: Tertiary M3 1.2 meters
Material: Tertiary M3  
Mount Altitude-azimuth Mount
First Light Date 1994
Adaptive Optics  

Please help us to complete this page by emailing information and corrections to info@noirlab.edu.

Updated on August 9, 2022, 9:34 am