The Mt. Bigelow Observatory site (altitude 2508 m; 8230 ft) is located a short, ~20 minute drive down from the summit of Mt. Lemmon. It uses commercial power but has its own standby generating system and its own water supply. A 10-bed dormitory (six bedrooms), built of California redwood, provides living facilities and an attractive location for discussions among Astronomy Campers and for “night-lunch.” This dormitory generally houses observers using the two telescopes located at the Mt. Bigelow site.
The 61″ Kuiper telescope honors the name of Dr. Gerard Kuiper, a pioneering astronomer who explored our Solar System and founded the Lunar and Planetary Lab on the University campus. The telescope was funded by NASA in support of the Apollo program and has operated since 1965. It features excellent image quality, is fully computerized, and has excellent pointing accuracy. At the 1999 Adult Astronomy Camp, participants used this telescope to confirm the discovery of a new comet.
The 28″ Schmidt telescope (f/1.8), east of the 61″ dome, has been used for the Catalina Sky Survey (University of Arizona) for the discovery of new asteroids and comets through wide-field (~4.4×4.4 deg) imaging. The CSS continues to lead the world in discovering Near Earth Asteroids as part of a NASA-funded program to detect Potentially Hazardous Asteroids with potential to impact Earth. Prior to 1998, the telescope was used photographically by Astronomy Campers who guided the tracking by eye and developed their own glass plates. The telescope was later converted to more sensitive CCD imaging, using a 10,500×10,500 pixel detector.