D1154 Kitt Peak Mountain Clouds HD

Turbulent white clouds fill the blue sky above Kitt Peak mountain in the Sonora desert of Arizona. The lookout from Kitt Peak offers a spectacular view of the Sonora desert.

Kitt Peak is located in southern Arizona near Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Nation. The peak is the highpoint of the Quinlan Mountains, where the dry desert climate, high altitude and clear air are ideal for astronomy. The site is home to the Kitt Peak National Observatory KPNO with over 20 optical and radio telescopes, including one of ten dishes belonging to the Very Long Baseline Array VLBA. In 1930, the peak was officially named after Philippa Kitt, the sister of George Roskruge, a surveyor for Pima County.