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Address AZ-386, Sells, AZ 85634, USA Similar Kitt Peak National Observatory, Fred Lawrence Whipple, Arizona‑Sonora Desert Museum, Reid Park Zoo, Shattuck Observatory | ||
The MDM Observatory is an optical astronomical observatory on Kitt Peak (west of Tucson, Arizona, USA), adjacent to Kitt Peak National Observatory. It is owned and operated by the University of Michigan, Dartmouth College, Ohio State University, Columbia University, and Ohio University. The "MDM" acronym stands for Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT, because the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was part of the operating consortium in the past.
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It has two reflecting telescopes, the 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope (since 1986), used for galactic surveys, and the 1.3 m McGraw-Hill Telescope (since 1975), which was originally located near Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Hiltner Telescope
The mirror of the 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope is aluminum-coated Cer-Vit, and usable foci include f/7.5 and f/13.5 Cassegrain foci. The telescope was built in 1986 and the mirrors were re-polished in 1991. It was named after astronomer W. Albert Hiltner (1914-1991).
McGraw-Hill Telescope
The 1.3 meter, actually 1.27 m clear aperture, telescope is aluminum-coated Cer-Vit (low thermal expansion glass), and usable foci include f/7.5 and f/13.5. The telescope was originally installed at Stinchfield Woods, Michigan in 1969, and moved in 1975 to MDM. Asteroid 4432 McGraw-Hill is named in its honor.