The Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO) owns and operates two radio telescopes in southern Arizona: The former NRAO 12 Meter (KP12m) Telescope located 50 miles southwest of Tucson on Kitt Peak and the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) located on Mt. Graham near Safford, Arizona.

Combined, the two telescopes routinely cover the entire millimeter and submillimeter windows from about 4.6 mm to about 0.6 mm, and at the SMT observations can be made all the way to 0.3 mm with PI instruments.

The telescopes are operated around-the-clock for about 9 to 10 months per year for a combined 10,000 hours per observing season (about 1500 hours are dedicated to sub-mm wavelengths at the SMT).

The ARO offices are centrally located in the Steward Observatory building on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson Arizona.

Additional funding for the 12 Meter and SMT is provided by the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics

News

• The 0.4mm SIS receiver is now installed. (March 2008)
• Call for Proposals; Spring 2008 (Jan 2008)
• Director Dr Ziurys appears on Arizona Illustrated (Aug 2007)
• Arizona Radio Observatory Team Discovers Supergiant Star Spews Molecules Needed for Life (July 2007)
• Alhambre Fire Near Kitt Peak (July 2007)
• President Robert Shelton visits the SMT (June 2007)
• ARO has a paper published in Nature (June 2007)