Astronomy Tourism: Photos from Arizona's Kitt Peak Observatories

McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope

A map of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope hangs inside the observatory where researchers look at high-resolution images of the sun.

Orion and Sirius Over Hiltner Telescope

The constellation Orion and Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, can be spotted in this shot, taken by Space.com's Megan Gannon in front of the MDM Observatory's 2.4-meter Hiltner telescope atop Kitt Peak in the Arizona desert on March 17, 2014.

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Kitt Peak National Observatory and the night sky as seen on the night of March 17, 2014 by Space.com's Megan Gannon at Kitt Peak, Arizona.

Kitt Peak National Observatory, 1993

This 1993 aerial photograph of the Kitt Peak mountain, some 50 miles WSW of Tucson, Arizona, shows the then current state of the large collection of telescopes maintained and operated by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.