According to a 2008 report by the Arizona Arts, Sciences and Technology Academy, the total dollar impact in Arizona attributed to Arizona’s astronomy, planetary and space sciences was estimated at $252.8 million in FY 2006. One of the report’s key recommendations is to employ “new measures to control light pollution emitted from growing urban areas that is degrading the effectiveness of existing Arizona observatories and limiting the state’s ability to attract major new facilities for optical astronomy.”
The Whipple Observatory, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, is located on Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains. In a recent Arizona Daily Star article (January 19, 2014), the Smithsonian wrote, “the negative public perception of having a copper mine next to an observatory has already impacted future observatory revenues.” One example, it says, was its failure to secure the $700 million giant Magellan Telescope.
