Table Mountain Observatory facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Table Mountain Observatory |
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Aerial view of Table Mountain Observatory
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| Organization | NASA / JPL | ||||||
| Code | 673 | ||||||
| Location | Big Pines, California, U.S. | ||||||
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Coordinates
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34°22′55″N 117°40′54″W / 34.3820°N 117.6818°W
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| Altitude | 2,286 meters (7,500 ft) | ||||||
| Established | 1924 | ||||||
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The Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) is a special place where scientists watch the sky. It's like a giant telescope station! NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) runs it. You can find TMO in Big Pines, California, which is inside the Angeles National Forest in the United States.
TMO is part of JPL's Table Mountain Facility (TMF). This bigger area has many different science projects. The Smithsonian Institution first used this site in 1924. They studied the atmosphere, the Sun, and other space objects. JPL took over in 1962.
Scientists at TMO use powerful telescopes to make very exact measurements of objects in space. This helps NASA guide its spacecraft missions. They also look for near-Earth objects like comets and asteroids. These are space rocks that could come close to Earth. Finding them helps us know if they might be a problem. TMO also helps develop new space technologies.
The asteroid named 84882 Table Mountain was given its name to honor this observatory. It's a cool way to remember the important work done here!
Contents
Discovering Minor Planets
Scientists at TMO have found more than 260 minor planets. Minor planets are small objects in space, like asteroids. The Minor Planet Center often calls this discovery site "Wrightwood." Many astronomers have found these objects here. The most famous is James Whitney Young. Other astronomers like Jack B. Child, Greg Fisch, A. Grigsby, D. Mayes, and Mallory Vale also made discoveries.
The Minor Planet Center also says that TMO itself found one numbered main-belt asteroid. You can see it in the table below.
| (166609) 2002 RF232 | 10 September 2002 | MPC |
Telescopes at TMO
Two main telescopes are used at the Table Mountain Observatory today. These are very powerful tools for looking at space.
- The 1.02 m (40 in) Pomona College Telescope is a special kind of telescope called a Cassegrain reflector. It was built at Pomona College. This telescope started working in 1985. It got new mirrors in 1996 to make it even better.
- A 0.6 meter telescope, called a Ritchey-Chrétien reflector, was put in place in 1966. It was built by a company called Astro Mechanics. This telescope is attached to a special stand that helps it track objects in the sky.
Past Telescopes
Over the years, TMO has used several other telescopes. Here are some of the telescopes that were used in the past:
- A 1.25 m (49 in) reflector telescope was moved to TMO in the late 1980s. It started working in the early 1990s. This telescope was later removed from the observatory's website before 2003.
- Another telescope, a 0.4 m (16 in) Ritchey-Chrétien reflector, was installed in 2003. It was removed before 2011.
- A 0.4 m (16 in) Cassegrain reflector was set up at TMO in 1962. Students from Harvey Mudd College used this telescope a lot from the 1970s to 1991.
- A 0.27 m (11 in) Schmidt camera was used by JPL at TMO from 1985 until at least 1991. This camera was good for taking wide pictures of the sky.
- A 5.5 m (18 ft) radio antenna was at TMO from 1970 to 1985. This antenna listened to radio waves from space.
- A radio interferometer started working at TMO in 1974. It used two dishes, one 4.4 m (14 ft) and another 3.0 m (9.8 ft), to get more detailed information from space.
Images for kids
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Observing with the 0.6m telescope
Special Recognition
The main-belt asteroid 84882 Table Mountain was named after the observatory. This asteroid was found by James Whitney Young at TMO in 2003. The official announcement for its name was made on October 28, 2004.
