The fire, known as the Contreras fire, has burned more than 18,000 acres, crammed between indigenous residential areas in the state near Tucson, and scientists may not be able to return to the observatory for weeks. But his telescopes, which number in the dozens, have remained safe since Sunday afternoon, officials said, and only the four buildings, which were not used for research, were destroyed. Firefighters have cordoned off 40 percent of the perimeter of the fire despite an extreme heat wave in the southwest slowing their efforts and, as the fire did not cause extensive damage in the area, the evacuated indigenous community of Pan Tak was ready to be evacuated. return. Firefighters will continue to patrol the area. Although the fire has peaked and the threat to the observatory appears to have diminished, the close call represents a new aspect of climate disaster: the danger of science and research. Dr David Schlegel, an astrophysicist at a research team based on the Kitt Peak Mayall Telescope, said more extensive fire damage, which could still be discovered in technological equipment, could “stop cosmological advances in next years .” The fire, which was lit by lightning, has already caused significant upset to scientists and residents of the surrounding community. “Instead of doing work last week, for the most part, it’s like being at war – you’re completely distracted from what’s going on,” he said. Schlegel. He added that everyone knew about the fire for days before it peaked, but that “you can do absolutely nothing”. Kitt Peak, located in the Tohono O’odham Nation, was the first astronomical observatory in the United States to be funded by the National Science Foundation and recognized worldwide as a landmark in astronomy, said Dr. Schlegel. Dr. Schlegel is working on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, which used the observatory to map the universe in order of magnitude. The simple assembly of the technology required about 600,000 custom components, he said. Before the fire reached the scientific constructions, the firefighters cleaned flammable materials around them, as a form of protection. But exposure to high heat may have affected the equipment in ways that were not immediately apparent. “Most likely, there will be damage from smoke or dust penetration into the telescope and the instrument,” said Dr. Slegel. But, he added, if any of this made the observatory shut down for a few months, “that would be much better than having to start over.” The damaged buildings were mainly dormitories where researchers and students slept after spending whole nights using telescopes and other equipment. Communities in the area are unclear, though they are close, said Dr. Michelle Edwards, deputy director of the observatory. He visited the observatory on Saturday, accompanied by firefighters with protective equipment. Dr Edwards said she noticed “scattered fire at the top of the peak” and damage to the road leading to the mountain, as well as to the observatory’s electrical systems. Scientists may not be able to return for at least six weeks unless a significant change in weather, such as a storm, helps put out the fire, he said. The 10-day forecast for Kitt Peak includes a chance of rain from Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The observatory has remained closed to the public since the pandemic began due to respect for the Tohono O’odham tribe’s social mobilization policies. The Nation eased these precautions on June 1, and Dr. Edwards had begun planning for the observatory to reopen. Now, that “is far behind,” he said. Dr. Evgenya Shkolnik, an associate professor of astrophysics at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, said her students were conducting research at the observatory and that losing access to it would hit them hard. “When telescopes are threatened, ‘our work is threatened,’” Dr. Skolnik said. “But it can also be very emotional. We also have wonderful memories there. We trained our students there, we trained ourselves and we made great discoveries. “We have personal and emotional attachments to our telescopes.”
