page_title: National Optical Astronomy Observatory
hierarchical_section_title: National Optical Astronomy Observatory
caption_attribution_description: Kitt Peak
context_page_description: The National Optical Astronomy Observatory is the United States national observatory for ground-based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared astronomy. The National Science Foundation funds NOAO to provide forefront astronomical research facilities for US astronomers. However, professional astronomers from any country in the world may apply to use the telescopes operated by NOAO under the NSF's "open skies" policy. Astronomers submit proposals for peer review to gain access to the telescopes which are scheduled every night of the year for observations. The combination of truly open access and the merit based science proposal process makes NOAO unique in the world.
  The NOAO headquarters are located in Tucson, Arizona and are co-located with the headquarters of the National Solar Observatory. The NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.
  Many famous US telescopes, such as the Hale telescopes in California and the Keck telescopes, were built by citizen benefactors, not by the United States government or Universities.
context_section_description: The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) is the United States national observatory for ground-based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared (OUVIR) astronomy.  The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds NOAO to provide forefront astronomical research facilities for US astronomers. However, professional astronomers from any country in the world may apply to use the telescopes operated by NOAO under the NSF's "open skies" policy. Astronomers submit proposals for peer review to gain access to the telescopes which are scheduled every night of the year for observations (with the exception of Christmas and New Year's Eve). The combination of truly open access and the merit based science proposal process makes NOAO unique in the world.
  The NOAO headquarters are located in Tucson, Arizona and are co-located with the headquarters of the National Solar Observatory. The NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.
  Many famous US telescopes, such as the Hale telescopes in California and the Keck telescopes, were built by citizen benefactors, not by the United States government or Universities. Many of these do not have the same public access criteria as the United States government supported telescopes, which are financially supported by public funds. Also, many telescopes and programs and NASA, while sometimes having some connections are also separate from the activities and funding of the national observatory, including telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope.
caption: Kitt Peak is the National Observatory of the United States, in contrast to the various benefactor and privately funded telescopes. The largest optical telescope at Kitt Peak is the 4 meter aperture Mayall reflector, and the bureaucracy also supports a variety of other instruments throughout the United States and internationally, but not telescopes such as Hubble, supported by NASA (which a different government organization)
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