Traveling up the winding mountain road leading to the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, the radio begins to crackle and cell signal fades as the Tucson valley slips into the rear view.
At 9,170 feet above the Tucson desert valley, the night skies fill with endless shimmering stars and bands of the Milky Way.
If you’re a stargazer, it is paradise — and a whole lot cheaper than joining Jeff Bezos’ flight crew.
On a recent Saturday night, a dozen stargazers waited for the Schulman 32-inch telescope to find its next celestial target.
The Schulman, one of the largest telescopes available for public viewing in the country, can be found up the winding roads of the scenic Catalina Highway.
The Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter began conducting public outreach in 2009 at its observatory, built upon the foundation of an old Cold War-era military base. It has since become one of the nation’s premier public observatories, giving visitors an experience found in few other places.
From the mountain view, a Sonoran night sky darkens overhead without ambient light. The SkyNights stargazing tour begins with Venus by daylight and ends with the bands of the Milky Way fading as the moon rises.
Director Alan Strauss, who also heads the University of Arizona Science Sky School, said the center provides access to the observatory for the community.
Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter has become one of the nation’s premier public observatories.
“Through the Sky Center, the public can come in and not only get excited and use the telescopes but also get right into the middle of the telescopes and speak with the experts,” Strauss said. “The five-hour program, which feels like a long time, is immersive, and people immediately get into it and are just present being on the mountain.”
Guests are introduced to the telescopes including the G96 60-inch telescope used to find near-earth bodies or, in the words of the Catalina Sky Survey, world-ending asteroids.
Niraj Mehta, who traveled from Houston to Tucson, made the SkyCenter the last stop on his Father’s Day trip with his two daughters. The trio had already checked Sedona and the Grand Canyon off their list; the summit of Mount Lemmon completed their journey.
“When I saw this online and the fact that (this) is a small group, an extended program with people who really knew what they are talking about as opposed to just setting up a bunch of telescopes and say go, it’s just really nice and really informative,” Mehta said.
“No matter what you see on the website, even the pictures wouldn’t do it justice,” Mehta added. “Until you come up here and spend an evening like this, nothing can describe what you’ll actually see once you’re up here.”
For information on the SkyCenter, visit skycenter.arizona.edu.
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