In which US state will you find a telescope owned by the Vatican?

Readers might find it strange that Vatican City owns a telescope at all, much less one located in the U.S. state of Arizona. Even stranger, is the fact that it seems to be located next door to the devil.

Because of light pollution in Rome and its surrounding countryside, the Vatican searched for a dark corner of Arizona for the VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope). The site decided upon was atop Mount Graham, near Safford, a small town (pop. 9,566 per the 2010 census) in southeastern Arizona. The location was chosen because the skies above Mount Graham are among the most clear, steady, and dark in continental North America.

The telescope is operated in partnership with the University of Arizona. It’s part of the Vatican Observatory, which is one of the world’s oldest astronomical research institutions. VATT achieved its first light in 1993. (In astronomy, first light means the first use of a telescope to take an astronomical image after it has been constructed.)

Adjacent to the Vatican’s telescope is the Lucifer telescope, which isn’t actually named for the devil. Rather, it stands for “Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research.” (Lucifer is easier to remember.)