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| Mount Hopkins | |
|---|---|
 Summit of Mount Hopkins from the entrance to theFred Lawrence Whipple Observatory that has two locations, one at the bottom of the mountains and the second (this one) located on the slopes of Mount Hopkins. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 8,553 ft (2,607 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 1,430 ft (436 m)[1] |
| Coordinates | 31°41′18″N110°53′07″W / 31.6884218°N 110.8853648°W /31.6884218; -110.8853648[2] |
| Geography | |
  Mount Hopkins | |
| Location | Santa Cruz County,Arizona, U.S. |
| Parent range | Santa Rita Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Hopkins |
Mount Hopkins is a 8,553-foot (2,607 m) peak of theSanta Rita Mountains range, inSanta Cruz County, southernArizona.
The peak was named after Gilbert Hopkins, who was killed nearby during theBattle of Fort Buchanan in 1865.
It is in theCoronado National Forest and is bounded on three sides by theMount Wrightson Wilderness.
In 1979,Russell Merle Genet founded the Fairborn Observatory, which he moved fromFairborn, Ohio to Mount Hopkins, Arizona in 1985, and worked there until 1993. He was also its first director, until 1989. Genet and his colleagues developed robotic telescopes there. It became the first totally automatic robotic observatory in the world.[3]
TheFred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is located on the mountain. The prime mover for the mountain's observatory was Fred Whipple, a professor at Harvard University who was in charge of a small 25 inch mirror telescope inCambridge, Massachusetts. In Cambridge the ambient light causedlight pollution that limited the telescope's usefulness.
That led to engineer Tom Hoffman being appointed by Whipple to search for a site in the U.S. that would provide a clear view of the sky at a high elevation, with minimal surrounding light pollution. After searching many locations, southern Arizona with its dry air and high elevations, and the assistance of The University of Arizona, brought Hoffman to focus on Mt Hopkins. Whipple agreed, leaving the challenge of how to transport an 8 metres (26 ft) diameter glass mirror and build a telescope on an 8,583-foot (2,616 m) mountain that had no road.
Media related toFred Lawrence Whipple Observatory at Wikimedia Commons