Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) is an astronomical observation facility operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology). It is located in Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, California. Located 63 kilometers (39 mi) north-northwest of Los Angeles, 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.
TMO 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.
Read more about Table Mountain Observatory: Instruments, Objects Discovered or Confirmed, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words table, mountain and/or observatory:
“Remember thee?
Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The mountain sheep are sweeter,
But the valley sheep are fatter;
We therefore deemed it meeter
To carry off the latter.”
—Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866)
“Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see new worlds at once.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)