Mount Graham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Graham
Mount Graham, Safford
Elevation	10,720 feet (3,267 m)
Location	Graham County, Arizona, USA
Range	Pinaleño Mountains
Prominence	6,320 ft (1,926 m)
Coordinates	32°42′05.87″N 109°52′18.87″W / 32.7016306, -109.8719083
Topo map	USGS Mount Graham
Listing	List of mountains in Arizona

Mount Graham is a mountain in southeastern Arizona in the United States, in the Coronado National Forest. It is the highest mountain in the Pinaleño Mountains. The mountain reaches 10,720 feet (3,267 m) in height, attaining the highest elevation in Graham County. It is twentieth of the 57 ultra prominent peaks of the lower 48 states, and the first of the five in Arizona.

[edit] Mount Graham Observatory

Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham.

Mount Graham, with some of the clearest skies in the world, is home to the Mount Graham International Observatory area, where multiple organizations have set up large telescopes in a few separate observatories.

The United States Congress authorized construction of observatories on the mountain in 1988, but there has been outcry from some Native American groups, who consider the site to be sacred. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club also opposed the construction projects on Mount Graham as the summit was thought to be one of the few remaining habitats of the Mount Graham Red Squirrel. Astronomers working in the area often faced protest and the threat of physical violence.^{[citation needed]} Acts of sabotage were also threatened, but most of the protests remained peaceful.