You can't quite see forever from Kitt Peak — only about 14 billion years. That's the maximum range of the WIYN telescope that sits atop this Arizona mountain.

WIYN is the newest, most advanced research observatory in this particular neighborhood. In an age when telescopes are swelling in size, this compact version, with its 3.5-meter primary mirror, is considered by many to be the finest optical telescope in the U.S. outside Hawaii.

On a dark night, when the "seeing" is good, WIYN can zero in on objects that are 10 million times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided human eye — including objects that are 14 billion light-years away, nearly at the edge of our 15-billion-year-old universe. But at those distances, the telescope is pushing the limits of its capabilities. It is most effective as a scientific instrument when looking at objects that are 7 billion light-years away or closer.