Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO) is an

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. ...

owned and operated by

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

(SDSU). The telescope was operated in partnership with the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

(UIUC) until 2000. MLO is located approximately east of downtown

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(USA) on the eastern edge of the

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by ...

in the

Laguna Mountains The Laguna Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System in eastern San Diego County, southern California. The mountains run in a northwest/southeast alignment for approximately . The mountains have long been inhabited by the i ...

on the SDSU Astronomy Campus near the hamlet of

Mount Laguna Mount Laguna is a small census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. It is approximately above sea level in a forest of Jeffrey pine, east of San Diego in the Laguna Mountains on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest ...

. MLO was dedicated on June 19, 1968, seven years after SDSU's Department of Astronomy became an independent academic department of SDSU's College of Sciences. The dedication took place during the 1968 summer meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Currently SDSU is working with

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

(KU), and UNC Chapel Hill on various projects.

Telescopes

* The MLO 40-inch Telescope is a

Cassegrain reflector The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to t ...

built by Astro Mechanics in 1966. It was originally fitted with a

primary mirror A primary mirror (or primary) is the principal light-gathering surface (the objective) of a reflecting telescope. Description The primary mirror of a reflecting telescope is a spherical or parabolic shaped disks of polished reflective meta ...

which has since been replaced. It is known informally as the Illinois telescope because it was located at UIUC's

Prairie Observatory The Prairie Observatory was constructed near Oakland, Illinois by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Department of Astronomy. The site was adjacent to Walnut Point State Park and provided an accessible but dark sky site only 35 mil ...

until 1981. * The Clifford Smith 24-inch Telescope is a Cassegrain reflector. It was built by the SDSU Department of Astronomy and used at the main campus from 1961 to 1966. In 1971 it was installed at MLO after modifications. * The Reginald Buller 21-inch Visitors' Telescope was built in 1950 by J.W. Fecker, Inc. It was donated to SDSU by Reginald Buller and dedicated at MLO in 1988. It is used primarily by students for direct viewing, and for outreach. * The EvryScope is a Multiple aperture (24x) survey telescope taking Appx. 8000 square degree fields every two minutes. It is a collaboration between SDSU and

UNC UNC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Education * University of Northern California (disambiguation), which may refer to: ** University of Northern California (Santa Rosa), in Petaluma, California, United States ** University of No ...

Future telescopes

* The 50-inch Phillips Claud Telescope. Originally planned in 2009, installation of the telescope began in late 2013. , the telescope installation had not been completed.

Former telescopes

* A telescope built by

Boller and Chivens Boller and Chivens was an American manufacturer of high-quality telescopes and spectrographs headquartered in South Pasadena, California. History Founded about 1946 by Harry Berthold Boller (1915-1997) and Clyde Cuthbertson Chivens (1915-2008). ...

was the first telescope at the observatory, and was replaced by the Claud telescope. * A telescope built by Nishimura and used by visitors was moved to the UCSD campus in 1988. It was replaced by the Buller telescope. * The Ultra-Light Technology for Research in Astronomy (ULTRA) telescope was a test bed for lightweight carbon-fiber mirrors. It was located in the 0.4 m Boller and Chivens building from 2006 until 2008. Before it was installed, the original dome was replaced with a larger one, and the mount upgraded. The project was collaboration of SDSU, KU, Dartmouth College, and Composite Mirror Applications, Inc. (CMA) of

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

References

External links

Department of Astronomy
at San Diego State University
Current conditions at MLO
Note: May be using a Self-Signed SSL certificate

Forecasts of observing conditions.
EvryScope Project at UNC
{{Authority control Astronomical observatories in California Astronomy institutes and departments Buildings and structures in San Diego County, California California State University San Diego State University University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Kansas University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill buildings 1968 establishments in California Cleveland National Forest

Telescopes

Future telescopes

Former telescopes

See also

References

External links