Press Releases: Kitt Peak National Observatory

27 Septiembre 2024: Today Kitt Peak Visitor Center celebrated 60 years of greeting visitors to the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory. Since opening in 1964, the Visitor Center has welcomed more than two million guests to the mountain in its mission to inspire a sense of wonder and awe about the Universe through exhibits, daytime tours and nighttime public programs.

17 Julio 2024: Using the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered the extreme orbit of an exoplanet that’s on its way to becoming a hot Jupiter. This exoplanet not only follows one of the most drastically stretched-out orbits of all known transiting exoplanets but is also orbiting its star backwards, lending insight into the mystery of how hot Jupiters evolve.

28 Mayo 2024: More than 70 NOIRLab staff volunteers welcomed hundreds of visitors from the Tohono O’odham Nation to Kitt Peak National Observatory to enjoy a night of telescope viewings, cultural performances, and educational activities.

4 Abril 2024: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is conducting a five-year survey to create the largest 3D map of the Universe ever. Astronomers are now performing initial analysis of the survey’s first-year data. Using spectra of nearby galaxies and distant quasars, astronomers report that they have measured the expansion history of the Universe with the highest precision ever, providing an unprecedented look at the nature of dark energy and its effect on the Universe's large-scale structure.

29 Enero 2024: Journey Through the Universe — a partnership between the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area — celebrates 20 years of cosmic exploration with Hawai‘i students and the community. This year’s exciting program includes classroom presentations, career panels, public events and more!

14 Diciembre 2023: Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries is an award-winning bilingual planetarium show that takes viewers beyond the dome to behind the scenes of some of Chile’s world-class observatories. Meet the people who work with state-of-the-art telescopes in this feature film that is now free and available online for direct download.

18 Octubre 2023: Astronomers have created a detailed atlas of almost 400,000 galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood. The Siena Galaxy Atlas was compiled using data from NSF's NOIRLab telescopes, and is designed to be the pre-eminent digital galaxy atlas for large galaxies. It’s a treasure trove of information for researchers investigating everything from galaxy formation and evolution to dark matter and gravitational waves. It’s also freely available online for the public to explore.

21 Septiembre 2023: Kitt Peak National Observatory will begin a limited reopening program to welcome the public through its doors and domes starting Friday 22 September. Following a more than three-year closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Contreras Fire, the historic KPNO will finally welcome visitors back to enjoy its guided daytime tours and nighttime observing programs.

13 Junio 2023: Nearly two million objects, including distant galaxies, quasars, and stars, comprise the early data release from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. These data will help researchers study the expansion history of the Universe in unprecedented detail and explore other frontier areas of astrophysical research. DESI is funded by the US Department of Energy and managed by Berkeley Lab.

9 Junio 2023: The One Sky Project, led by the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center and sponsored by the Thirty Meter Telescope, has produced a series of seven short fulldome films and a compiled full-length feature film focusing on cultural and Indigenous astronomy. This international collaboration seeks to build cross-cultural connections and increase understanding of different indigenous perspectives while demonstrating how our one sky connects us all. The films, which received accolades in 2022 and 2023, are now free to download to planetariums around the world.

23 Febrero 2023: The largest two-dimensional map of the sky ever made has grown even larger with the tenth data release from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys — a monumental six-year survey covering nearly half the sky. This new data release adds increased sky and wavelength coverage to the already completed surveys made with data from NSF’s NOIRLab telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

16 Febrero 2023: Journey Through the Universe — a partnership among NSF’s NOIRLab/Gemini, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area, and the TMT International Observatory — returns to its in-person format to share with Hawai‘i students the wonders of the Universe and awareness of careers in science and technology. This year’s exciting program includes classroom presentations, career panels, a teacher workshop and more!

8 Febrero 2023: A team of researchers led by astronomers at NSF’s NOIRLab has uncovered striking new evidence for a mass migration of stars into the Andromeda Galaxy. Intricate patterns in the motions of stars reveal an immigration history very similar to that of the Milky Way. The new results were obtained with the DOE’s Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

19 Enero 2023: A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by NSF’s NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The study published in the journal Science showcases the unique contributions that citizen scientists can make in essential fields of research.

20 Octubre 2022: A gas giant exoplanet with the density of a marshmallow has been detected in orbit around a cool red dwarf star by a suite of instruments, including the NASA-funded NEID radial-velocity instrument on the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The planet, named TOI-3757 b, is the fluffiest gas giant planet ever discovered around this type of star.

14 Julio 2022: NSF's NOIRLab’s Teen Astronomy Café educational program is proud to present its newest initiative: Teen Astronomy Café — To Go! This online, free program provides complete digital education packages, aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, suitable for informal use by students alone and by classroom educators. Using science-grade data actively engages students and encourages them to think and act like scientists. Five ‘Instant Packs’ are now available, each focusing on a different astronomy research topic.

13 Julio 2022: The Contreras Fire reached the Kitt Peak National Observatory during the early morning of Friday 17 June 2022. We are working with the firefighters at the site to assess the damage and will share details about the facilities as we learn more. We remain in an active fire situation with rapidly changing conditions.

15 Febrero 2022: NOIRLab's Journey Through the Universe — returning with an online program this year — will share the wonders of the Universe and career awareness in science and technology with Hawaiʻi students. In partnership with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiakea Complex Area, this year’s implementation of the flagship astronomy outreach program consists of a week of virtual programming along with a new cultural exchange program between classrooms in NOIRLab’s host cities in Hawaiʻi, Chile, and Arizona.

3 Febrero 2022: At a press conference today, NSF's NOIRLab announced that it has been selected, along with the SKA Observatory (SKAO), by the International Astronomical Union to host the new IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference. The center coordinates collaborative multidisciplinary international efforts with institutions and individuals and works across multiple geographic areas to help mitigate the negative impact of satellite constellations on ground-based optical and radio astronomy observations as well as humanity’s enjoyment of the night sky.

13 Enero 2022: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has cataloged more galaxies than all other previous three-dimensional redshift surveys combined, measuring 7.5 million galaxies in only seven months since beginning science operations. The US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory leads DESI, which is installed at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab, on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope.