DESI’s home on the Mayall Telescope (left) is visible on the ridge following the Contreras Fire.

Collaborators watched the Contreras Fire’s progress using the webcam atop the Mayall Telescope, which holds DESI. It captured this image of the firefighting effort in the early evening on June 15, 2022.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument contains many state-of-the-art components, including a one-of-a-kind positioning system. The 5,000 robotically controlled optical fibers gather spectroscopic data from celestial objects, some of them billions of light-years away.

On Sept. 27, crews installed a new power pole on Kitt Peak. Miles of power poles destroyed by the fire will need to be repaired or replaced.