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 |