Tucson Twinkling at Twilight
Crédito: H. Stockebrand/KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, CC BY 4.0
On 30 August 2026, NSF NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador Hernán Stockebrand captured this view of Tucson, Arizona, after sunset. On the far right, peeking up over the Quinlan Mountains, is the NSF Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Amazingly, this picture was captured about 60 miles (96.6 km) away from Kitt Peak, from Windy Point Vista off the Catalina Highway. Windy Point Vista is an iconic Tucson site, and stopping to enjoy the views above the city is a must before you continue up the Catalina Highway to its end at Mount Lemmon. Both Mount Lemmon and Kitt Peak are considered “Sky Islands” — a term for the unique diversity of plants and animals on these isolated mountains compared to the desert “seas” below. For example, the Sonoran Desert below both mountains is home to Saguaro cacti. As you drive up Kitt Peak, temperatures cool, and patches of cacti give way to lush trees, bushes, and grass unlike anywhere below. To spot more iconic Tucson locations in these images, see the annotated version here. You can find another angle of this view here.
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