THE 1.2 METER TELESCOPES

These dual telescopes are classical Cassegrain optical systems mounted on opposite sides of a single polar axis, and fixed to a common declination axis. Both telescopes have parabolic primary mirrors that are 1.2 meters in diameter.. Both telescopes also have primary mirror support systems which incorporate air bags for axial support and mercury belts for radial support. The telescope on the right has a smaller, wide field acquisition telescope mounted on it. This smaller telescope has three selectable fields-of-view, and is capable of detecting 17th magnitude targets against a dark sky. The telescope on the right has a rear instrument mounting surface, hosting an infrared radiometer, the Advanced Multicolor Tracker for AMOS (AMTA) and a visible light contrast mode photometer. The telescope on the left has both a rear instrument and a side instrument mounting surface. When in position, a small folding mirror between the primary and secondary mirrors can project the image to the side surface. The rear instrument surface of this telescope houses a Classical Sensor Package that employs a film camera and low light-level TV camera. The side instrument surface supports a number of instruments, including an atmospheric turbulence measuring device, and an infrared CCD imaging array. Piggy-back on this telescope is the receiver for a small pulsed ruby laser system used to probe the atmosphere for cirrus cloud contamination. The laser is out of view on the far side of the telescope.

THE AMOS LASER BEAM DIRECTOR

The AMOS Laser Beam Director (LBD) is an optical system used to project laser
beams from the Observatory. The LBD, together with the AMOS pulsed ruby laser
system and other lasers mounted in the sub-dome area, is used for space object
illumination or to provide range information on selected targets. After the beam enters
the LBD from the sub-dome pedestal below, a series of fixed mirrors projects the beam
to an expander, which is seen on the right of the photo. The expanded twenty-four inch
diameter beam is then projected to the 36-inch gimbaled tracking mirror shown on the
left of the photo. From here the beam is directed into space. The entire beam director
optical system is mounted on an azimuth turntable which is positioned and locked prior
mirror.
to a tracking operation. Tracking is then done exclusively with the lightweight tracking