Tortugas Mountain Observatory (TMO) is located on Tortugas Mountain, also known as “A” Mountain, just east of Las Cruces. The observatory is equipped with a 1967 Boller and Chivens 24″ reflector telescope. For decades the observatory was used primarily for imaging and monitoring of planetary targets such as Jupiter, in support of NASA’s Voyager space probes. Nowadays, TMO is operated both remotely and autonomously for NMSU undergraduate courses, small research projects, and monitoring of variable stars for the American Association of Variable Star Observers.

Photo credit: Zach Edwards

56 min exposure of NGC 6946 taken with TMO by NMSU Astronomy graduate student April Barton