Stars and Lights, Kitt Peak and Tucson

The night sky appear over the Kitt Peak Observatory and lights of Tucson, some 70 km away. In the sky constellation Cygnus, the Swan, appears on the left with the North America Nebula at the upper edge. On the right Orion, the Hunter, appears next to Gemini, the Twins. Polaris, the North Star, is near the middle above the largest optical telescope of the observatory, the Mayall with aperture of 4 meters. Click on the second photo to see a sunset view of the mountain and the Mayall dome as seen from the desert below the observatory. © Babak Tafreshi