Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope

Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope

Alternative names	Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Part of	Kitt Peak National Observatory
Location(s)	Arizona
Coordinates	31°57′48″N 111°36′00″W / 31.9634°N 111.6°W / 31.9634; -111.6
Organization	NOIRLab
Altitude	2,120 m (6,960 ft)
First light	February 27, 1973[1]
Discovered	Methane ice on Pluto
Telescope style	optical telescope Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Diameter	4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Collecting area	11.4 m2 (123 sq ft)
Website	noirlab.edu/public/programs/kitt-peak-national-observatory/nicholas-mayall-4m-telescope/
Location of Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope
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The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope, also known as the Mayall 4-meter Telescope, is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector telescope located at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and named after Nicholas U. Mayall. It saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest telescope in the world at that time.^[2] Initial observers included David Crawford, Nicholas Mayall, and Arthur Hoag.^[2] It was dedicated on June 20, 1973 after Mayall's retirement as director.^[2] The mirror has an f/2.7 hyperboloidal shape. It is made from a two-foot (61 cm (24 in)) thick fused quartz disk that is supported in an advanced-design mirror cell. The prime focus has a field of view six times larger than that of the Hale reflector. It is host to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. The identical Víctor M. Blanco Telescope was later built at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, in Chile.^[3]