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.[3][2] 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.[4]
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).
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.[5][6]
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.[9][10] It was removed from the TMO web site before June 2003.[11]
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.[12] 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.[3]Harvey Mudd College was the main user of this telescope from the 1970s through at least 1991.[10]
A 0.27 m (11 in) Schmidt camera owned by JPL operated at TMO from 1985 until at least 1991.[10][13]
A 5.5 m (18 ft) millimeter wavelength radio antenna was located at TMO from 1970 until at least 1985.[13]
A radio interferometer with dishes of 4.4 m (14 ft) and 3.0 m (9.8 ft) became operational at TMO in 1974.[14]
^ abcdSchmadel, Lutz D. (2006). "(84882) Table Mountain [2.63, 0.29, 13.9]". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (84882) Table Mountain, Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 234. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-34361-5_2786. ISBN978-3-540-34361-5.
^ abYoung, James W.; Harris, Alan W. (Spring 2009). "The Early History of Photometric Observations of Asteroids made at the Table Mountain Observatory". The Society for Astronomical Sciences 28th Annual Symposium on Telescope Science. Held May 19–21. 28: 77. Bibcode:2009SASS...28...77Y.
^ abcKlett, K. K. (1992). "California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Table Mountain Observatory, Wrightwood, California 92397. Report for the period Jul 1990 - Jul 1991". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society. 24 (1): 119. Bibcode:1992BAAS...24..119K.
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