Still Standing When The Smoke Cleared

Viewers from near the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum often believe they are looking across the Avra Valley and seeing Kitt Peak. The reality is that... more

by Douglas Taylor

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Price

$195

Dimensions

45.000 x 30.000 inches

Title

Still Standing When The Smoke Cleared

Artist

Douglas Taylor

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Digital Photography

Description

Viewers from near the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum often believe they are looking across the Avra Valley and seeing Kitt Peak. The reality is that from this location the tall, rugged mountain that dominates the southwest skyline is actually the Coyote Mountains. KItt Peak is virtually hidden behind. Except for the northern tip of Kitt Peak where the Mayall 4-Meter Telescope can be spotted at the crest.

This evening I was both amazed and delighted to see the Mayall Telescope still standing, for a few hours before I had witnessed a wind driven wildfire ravage the southeastern slope of Kitt Peak. Now as the smoke cleared in the brisk breeze at dusk I could see that at least this largest of the optical instruments on Kitt Peak had survived what looked to be a catastrophic event.

The fire began as a dry lightning strike in the Baboquivari Mountains, southwest of Tucson, Arizona in early June. The mountains are very rugged and remote, and at the north end of the range sits Kitt Peak, home of the Kitt Peak National Observatory and about two dozen assorted telescopes atop the 6,858 tall mountain. It is the largest collection of large astronomic instruments in the northern hemisphere including the giant McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.

On Friday, June 17th, 2022 the wildfire surged up the southern flank of the mountain in the early morning hours. It exploded again that afternoon on the southeast side, driven by strong south winds and consuming the tinder dry forest. The flames were visible from over 40 miles away, but I could not bear making the photograph of them with the immense smoke plume boiling into the sky. It really did look like a fiery, tragic end to this iconic scientific community.

The heroic defenses of the firefighters held, and the summit was relatively unscathed. Yes, some major structures were lost, but none of the scientific instruments suffered significant damage. That this unique place survived is nothing short of a miracle.

The Coyote Mountains are very similar in size and composition to Kitt Peak, but are approximately 300 feet shorter at 6,527 feet. Across the cultivated fields of the Avra Valley rise the Dobbs Buttes and Martina Mountain.

Uploaded

June 21st, 2022