Mount Lemmon Observatory

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Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory is located approximately 45 miles (73 kilometers) north of the University of Arizona in the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

The observatory was a radar base of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and has since been converted to a high-tech infrared observatory. The few remnants of its past military history can be seen in the photo. There is a radar near the left center of the photo which is still used today to guide the Space Shuttle to an emergency landing in White Sands, New Mexico.

[edit] Telescopes

There are two telescopes in the Mount Lemmon Observatory. One is a 40 inch Cassegrain reflector owned solely by the Observatory. The other is an 60 inch Cassegrain reflector jointly owned by NASA and the Lemmon Observatory.