An observatory at an altitude of 2070 m in the San Bernardino Mountains of southwestern California, opened in 1969. It is owned by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and has been operated since 1997 by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The observatory benefits from particularly steady seeing, being sited on an artificial island in Big Bear Lake. The world’s largest solar telescope, the 1.6-m New Solar Telescope (NST), was opened in 2009, replacing the 0.65-m vacuum reflector in operation since 1973.

http://www.bbso.njit.edu/ Official observatory website.