Keeping Their Eyes on the Skies

Photo copyright WIYN/NOAO/NSF

You can't quite see forever from Kitt Peak — only about 14 billion years. That's the maximum range of the WIYN telescope that sits atop this Arizona mountain.

WIYN is the newest, most advanced research observatory in this particular neighborhood. In an age when telescopes are swelling in size, this compact version, with its 3.5-meter primary mirror, is considered by many to be the finest optical telescope in the U.S. outside Hawaii.

On a dark night, when the "seeing" is good, WIYN can zero in on objects that are 10 million times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided human eye — including objects that are 14 billion light-years away, nearly at the edge of our 15-billion-year-old universe. But at those distances, the telescope is pushing the limits of its capabilities. It is most effective as a scientific instrument when looking at objects that are 7 billion light-years away or closer.

At this range, WIYN can look closely at nearby galaxies — a favorite topic of research for UW-Madison astronomer Eric Wilcots. (See the full-length version of Terry Devitt's story.) The photos here show just a few of the images that WIYN has captured, including spiral galaxies, supernovae, and nebulae. For more information about UW-Madison's astronomy program and its telescopes, visit www.astro.wisc.edu.

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