astronomy

Table Mountain Observatory

Table Mountain Observatory is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Table Mountain Observatory rather than just read about it. In short: Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) is an astronomical observation facility operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology). It is located in Big Pines, California, in the Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, north-northeast of Los Angeles, California.

Key takeaways

Table Mountain Observatory belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Table Mountain Observatory to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Table Mountain Observatory from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) is an astronomical observation facility operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology). It is located in Big Pines, California, in the Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, north-northeast of Los Angeles, California. TMO is part of JPL's Table Mountain Facility (TMF). The larger site hosts a number of non-astronomical projects. The site was first used by the Smithsonian Institution in 1924, which conducted atmospheric, solar, and astronomical observations for many years. JPL took over the lease in 1962. The observatory conducts high-precision astrometric observations to support NASA and international spacecraft mission navigation, confirmation and recovery of near-Earth objects such as comets and asteroids that may potentially impact the Earth, and technology development. The main-belt asteroid 84882 Table Mountain was named in honor of the observatory.

List of discovered minor planets More than 260 minor planets were discovered at TMO, often referred to as "Wrightwood" the Minor Planet Center and credited to several astronomers, most notably to James Young, but also to other astronomers such as Jack B. Child, Greg Fisch, A. Grigsby, D. Mayes, and Mallory Vale. The MPC also directly credits TMO with the discovery of one numbered main-belt asteroid (see table).

Instruments Two telescopes operate at TMO:

The 1.02 m (40 in) Pomona College Telescope is a Cassegrain reflector built at Pomona College. It first became operational in 1985, and had new mirrors installed in 1996. A 0.6 m Ritchey-Chrétien reflector built by Astro Mechanics was installed in 1966. It is attached to an off-axis German equatorial mount.

Former instruments Former instruments at TMO include:

A 1.25 m (49 in) reflector previously located at Cloudcroft Observatory was acquired in the late 1980s and became operational in the early 1990s. It was removed from the TMO web site before June 2003. A 0.4 m (16 in) Ritchey-Chrétien reflector built by RC Optical Systems was attached to an equatorial mount. It was installed in 2003 and removed from the TMO web site before July 2011. It was housed in the dome where the Schmidt camera was previously located. A 0.4 m (16 in) Cassegrain reflector was installed at TMO in 1962. Harvey Mudd College was the main user of this telescope from the 1970s through at least 1991. A 0.6 m (24 in) Cassegrain reflector was installed at TMO in 1966. A 0.27 m (11 in) Schmidt camera owned by JPL operated at TMO from 1985 until at least 1991. A 5.5 m (18 ft) millimeter wavelength radio antenna was located at TMO from 1970 until at least 1985. A radio interferometer with dishes of 4.4 m (14 ft) and 3.0 m (9.8 ft) became operational at TMO in 1974.

Honours The main-belt asteroid 84882 Table Mountain, discovered by James Whitney Young at TMO in 2003, was named in honor of the observatory. Naming citation was published on 28 October 2004 (M.P.C. 52955).

See also Mount Wilson Observatory Fundamental station List of astronomical observatories List of asteroid-discovering observatories List of minor planet discoverers § Discovering dedicated institutions

References

External links Official website Table Mountain Observatory at the Pomona College astronomy department Photographic history of Table Mountain Observatory

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Table Mountain Observatory

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Table Mountain Observatory claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Table Mountain Observatory before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Table Mountain Observatory ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Table Mountain Observatory

In research: Table Mountain Observatory appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Table Mountain Observatory in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Table Mountain Observatory is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 establishments in California, Angeles National Forest, Astronomical observatories in California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Table Mountain Observatory outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Table Mountain Observatory in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Table Mountain Observatory means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Table Mountain Observatory out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Table Mountain Observatory in simple terms?

Why does Table Mountain Observatory matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Table Mountain Observatory?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Table Mountain Observatory.