0.1 miles away
Kitt Peak National Observatory
The largest collection of optical telescopes in the world, on Tohono O'odham land at 6,880 feet, hosting more than twenty telescopes operated by different institutions.
McMath–Pierce Solar Telescope
McMath–Pierce solar telescope is a 1.6 m f/54 reflecting solar telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States. Built in 1962, the building was designed by American architect Myron Goldsmith and Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan. It was the largest solar telescope and the largest unobstructed aperture optical telescope in the world.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Observatory
- Destination
- Altar Valley
- County
- Pima County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 38.3 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 22.0
- Significance score
- 52.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Official website
- noirlab.edu(opens in a new tab)
- Coordinates
- 31.9584, -111.5950
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12
Where it is
McMath–Pierce Solar Telescope is a observatory near Altar Valley, in Pima County. It is one of the observatories in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
This place scores 38.3 out of 100, at medium confidence. No official visitor count is published for it, so the score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Description: Wikipedia(opens in a new tab), used under CC BY-SA 4.0(opens in a new tab)
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
- Official site: https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/kitt-peak-national-observatory/mcmath-pierce-solar-telescope/(opens in a new tab)
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
Nearby attractions
0.5 miles away
Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope
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.
12 miles away
Baboquivari Peak Wilderness
This remote wilderness area is on the eastern side of the Baboquivari Mountain Range 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Tucson, and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. It is notable for the spectacular Baboquivari Peak which is sacred to the Tohono O’odham people, and is clearly visible from nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory (see listing above).24 miles away
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, this was established in 1986 for the reintroduction of masked bobwhite quail and pronghorn antelope. A number of other mammals and avian species are well-established here, making this an excellent place for watching birds and wildlife.
32 miles away
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Part zoo, part botanical garden and part natural history museum, presenting the Sonoran Desert ecosystem largely outdoors along two miles of walking paths.