Near Big Pine in Inyo County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

The Millimeter Interferometer

Owens Valley Radio Observatory

Millimeter Interferometer Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

1. Millimeter Interferometer Marker

Inscription.
The Millimeter Interferometer, built through the generous support of the National Science Foundation.
May 4, 1985
Owens Valley Radio Observatory
California Institute of Technology

Erected 1985 by Owens Valley Radio Observatory.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Exploration • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1985.

Location. 37° 13.998′ N, 118° 16.931′ W. Marker is near Big Pine, California, in Inyo County. It can be reached from Leighton Lane 3.8 miles north of California Route 168. Located at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 Leighton Ln, Big Pine CA 93513, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Sierra Nevada.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At

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least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Zurich Station (approx. 3.8 miles away); Westgaard Pass Toll Road (approx. 4.2 miles away); Big Pine Veterans Memorial (approx. 4.2 miles away); The Roosevelt Tree (approx. 4.2 miles away); Inyo County Hospital and Farm (approx. 4.6 miles away); Big Pine Cemetery District (approx. 4.7 miles away); Alice Piper Memorial (approx. 5 miles away); From Trail to Highway (approx. 5.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Big Pine.

Regarding The Millimeter Interferometer. The Owens Valley Millimeter Wave Interferometer, also known as the Owens Valley Millimeter Array, is a radio interferometer operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory near Big Pine and Bishop, California. It is situated in the high, dry desert of the Owens Valley which helps minimize atmospheric moisture and radio-electrical interference. It originally comprised multiple 10.4-meter diameter antennas/telescopes, and later merged operations or evolved into related arrays like CARMA (Combined Array for Research in

Photographed by Craig Baker

2. Millimeter Interferometer Marker

Millimeter-wave Astronomy) and modern setups like today’s SPRITEly. Designed to map and observe cosmic sources across millimeter wavelengths (including roughly the 85–115 GHz and 218–265 GHz bands, as well as 1.4 mm observations) for high-resolution imaging of protoplanetary and protostellar disk structures, molecular cloud complexes in nearby galaxies, galactic nuclei, star-formation regions, and variable millimeter-continuum sources.

Also see . . . Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Website features current projects, photos, maps, history, public lectures, and a virtual tour. (Submitted on November 4, 2026.)

Millimeter Interferometer Antennas image. Click for full size.

courtesy OVRO

3. Millimeter Interferometer Antennas

Two 10.4 m (34 ft) antennas now used for SPRITEly.