 Dome of the Smith (24") Telescope at MLO | |||||||||||
| Alternative names | Mount Laguna Observatory 1m | ||||||||||
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| Organization | San Diego State University | ||||||||||
| Observatory code | U83  | ||||||||||
| Location | Mount Laguna, California | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°50′33″N 116°25′41″W / 32.8424°N 116.4280°W | ||||||||||
| Altitude | 1,859 meters (6,099 ft) | ||||||||||
| Established | 1968 | ||||||||||
| Website | MLO Facilities | ||||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||||
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  Location of Mount Laguna Observatory | |||||||||||
 Related media on Commons | |||||||||||
Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by San Diego State University (SDSU).[1] MLO is located approximately 75 kilometers (47 mi) east of downtown San Diego, California, on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest, in the Laguna Mountains on the SDSU Astronomy Campus near the hamlet of Mount Laguna.
MLO was dedicated on June 19, 1968, seven years after SDSU's Department of Astronomy[2] 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.[3] The telescope was operated in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) until 2000. Currently, SDSU is working with the University of Kansas (KU) and UNC Chapel Hill on various projects.