TELESCOPES WITH FIXED POSITION EYEPIECES

Roberto Bartali

ABSTRACT
A telescope is a very complex instrument and must be designed taking into account
its three fundamental components:
• 1 – Optical (lenses, mirrors, cameras and filters)
• 2 – Mechanical (mounting and basement)
• 3 – Control system (motors, actuators, electronics, computers and software)
All three are equally importants, so the order is not an issue. A perfect optical
system is not useful if the mounting is not stable and if the control system is unable to
follow the apparent movement of the heavens.
This document is a description of different mounting designs adopted to sustain and
tracking the optical system only. After a general description of what a mounting is and its
main characteristics, follows a detailed analysis of most used configurations. Today
telescopes are very large and expensive, to get the best cost to performance ratio,
astronomers need to couple many instruments, most of them very obstructing and heavy,
they have to be placed off axis and on stable platforms sometimes far from the telescope.
This implies the deviation of the light rays by the usage of auxiliary optics like in the
Coudé or Nasmyth configuration, described in the second part of this work.
Finally there is a description of the main difference between professional and
amateur mountings.

INTRODUCTION
Astronomy is a joint venture of many sciences and technologies, a telescope is like a
dedicated robot, order of magnitudes better than any other industrial counterpart.
Technology involved in the design and construction of a modern telescope is pushed to the
limit, sometimes there is not an available technology capable to construct a telescope with
the performance that astronomers needs.
During the first century after the invention of the telescope, both, refractor and
reflector in the XVII century, the main attention was placed on the optical system, the
mounting was a mere support for it, we can see fine works of art, but with questionable
performance (Figure 1).
When more
large mirrors and lenses
were made in the XVIII
and the first half of the
XIX centuries, the
necessity of heavy and
“colossal” mounts was
imperative (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Figure 3
Figure 1 Big mounting for a One of the largest
Antique telescope refractor at Lick modern telescopes,
on wood pier. observatory. the Gemini South.

1
 The real importance of the mounting of a telescope was considered only after the
invention of photography. When astronomers applied it to retract celestial objects, which
are very faint and so needs long exposure times, the importance of a very stable mount
capable to track and maintain them, during hours, in the centre of the field of view,
mechanical engineers designed heavy, large and sophisticated systems (Figure 3).
MOUNTING CHARACTERISTICS
Now let’s see why a mounting is so important and must be designed and
manufactured whit such a degree of perfection.
The mounting of a telescope has three main functions which are briefly explained
here:
1 – Sustain and maintain the optical system.
2 – Pointing and Tracking.
3 – Sustain the ancillary instrumentation.
Optical system
The optical system (mirrors and lenses) came in a wide range of diameters, from
small 6 cm beginner’s telescopes objective lens up to 1 meter Yerkes refractor (figure 4)
and to 10 meters primary mirrors, but it is expected, in a near future, that this figure grows
to 50 or more meters. Such giant mirrors, even when they take advantages of new
technologies, are heavy, in the order of several tons. They have to be maintained in their
place with a high degree of precision, otherwise the light path could change and the
resulting image came out of focus or could be distorted.
The optical system comprise not only the primary mirror, but also the secondary one
and many times some correcting group of lenses (figure 5), which are smaller than primary
mirrors, but equally huge and heavy; sometimes the astronomer seat inside the secondary
mirror support (figure 6). It is the duty of the mounting to maintain optical axis well
aligned.
Modern adaptive and active optic systems uses deformable mirrors (figure 7) so the
mechanical structure must be more complicated, to do thing even more complex we have
also liquid mirror telescopes, where, instead of a polished glass, the primary mirror is a
rotating bowl filled with mercury (figure 8).

Figure 4
Largest refracting telescope (1
meter objective diameter) at
Yerkes observatory.
Figure 5
Large lenses to correct the field
of view mounted on the
secondary support mirror of the
Anglo Australian Telescope
Figure 6
Astronomer inside the
telescope secondary
mirror structure of the
Keck observatory.

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 Figure 8
Figure 7
Liquid mirror telescope primary reflective
Active optics system on the back
surface of the LIDAR project.
of the Subaru telescope.

Pointing and Tracking

The Earth rotate and due to this, celestial objects are moving, so the telescope,
which is fixed on the planet surface, must follows the object observed all night long.
Hundred tons of glass, steel and aluminium must be moved smoothly and precisely with a
high degree of repeatability.
Earlier systems used complex train gears and chains (figure 9), something like a
giant clock. The gears were moved by gravity. Later, the implementation of motors
simplified the mechanics, but it needed a complex electrical and electronic system (figure
10). Modern telescopes uses powerful direct drive motors, coupled directly to both axis, the
mechanical system has a reduced complexity, but the control electronics needs a set of
powerful computers running sophisticated software routines.

Figure 10
Gears and belts coupled to
motors are transmitting the
movement to telescope axes.
Example from the ASAS project
telescope.

Figure 9
Gravity gears drive for
telescope movements.

Sustain instrumentation
The first instrument used by astronomers was the eye, observing through the
telescope eyepiece group of lenses. Then they coupled photographic cameras which came
in a variety of size depending on the plate used (figure 11).

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 After the invention of the spectroscope, astronomers apply it to study the physics
and chemical properties of stars, so they apply it to telescopes, at first in the same place of
the camera, then on the focal plane. The combination of a spectroscope and a camera
resulted in a huge and heavy instrument, so mechanical constrains were more demanding
regarding the whole mechanical structure (figure 12).
Large telescopes today are very expensive, to give the most of them many
instruments must be attached, this way there is the possibility to do different kind of work
simultaneously. The mechanical structure must be modified, there is no more room nor
lifting capacity to sustain and move so many instruments. They must be placed, sometimes,
away from the telescope in another room or in the basement. This factors leads to the
design and construction of completely new configurations (figure 13).

Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13

Large format
photographic plate
camera attached to a
telescope at Lowell
observatory.
Spectrograph attached Large spectrograph
to the 4 meter Kilt Peak attached to the Nasmyth
telescope. focus of the Galileo
Telescope.

Mounting specifications
A well designed mount must comply with some basically characteristics all at the
same time, otherwise it will not perform as expected and data collected by the optical
system will be meaningless. It must be stable, rigid, light weight, precise and balanced
[Buckman 2002][Trueblood 1985].
Stability is important because it must maintain the optical system in its place no
matter the position in the sky of the object observed, no flexures are allowed. The telescope
is continuously moving so the centre of gravity of the instrument is ever changing, but the
optical axis must be every time perfectly aligned with the object and the relative position of
each lens or mirror must no change, otherwise a trailed or blurred image can be obtained.
A rigid structure means that no vibration must be induced or transmitted if we want
to have a point like image of a star. There are many sources of vibrations. Some are
external to the instrument like vehicles moving near the observatory building, settlement of
the building, wind and air currents and small earthquakes. These vibrations are easier to
avoid with separated structures and basements for the telescope and for the buildings.

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Internal vibration sources are motors, gears, movement transmission systems misalignment
and backlash, flexures due to unbalanced masses and optics supports, jog due to pointing
control errors, wearied or aged bearings, non
perpendicularity of the axes, active and adaptive optics
actuators, air currents and temperature changes inside
the dome and not well fixed joint in the structure or in
the instrumentation attachment.
To avoid vibrations, massive and colossal
basements made of concrete (figure 2) and large
diameter steel tube structures were made in the past
(figure 14), but with so large aperture telescopes, like
modern ones, it showed to be not feasible because flexure
Figure 14
100 inches Mt. Wilson problems are nearly impossible to remove.
Telescope mounted on Modern telescope mounting designs uses light weight
massive structure. material like aluminium and, in some cases, also sturdy plastics.
Rigidity is accomplished by the usage of pure triangle structures
(figure 15). It is clear that the mounting and the optical tube are the same things.
Al mechanical parts, as optics, must be machined with the highest possible quality,
minimal imperfections can carry misalignments and produce vibrations. Many times the
structure is implemented using customized metal alloys,
not commercially available, so each piece must be
consistent with all others. A difference in the alloy formula
may induce to a different strength of some part respect to
all others damaging the stability and rigidity of the
mounting. Another effect consists on differences in
thermal conductivity. This is very important because metal
deformations, under temperature changes, can induce
structure modifications like misalignments and flexures
and finally they means instability and vibrations, in the
worst case, also the rupture of a joint.
The whole telescope structure must be well
balanced to reduce to the minimum the power of the
motors and the size of the transmission components
system. Moving an unbalanced load imply that the torque
developed by motors is not constant, so more power is
needed, but this means that motors dimensions and weight
are much more than the necessary. A variable load also can
induce variations in the movements and at last, vibrations;
another side effect could be some flexure due to torsion
Figure 15 effects, without speaking about the more complex electronics
Modern giant telescope
structure are made using small and software.
diameter tubes forming Equatorial mounting are the most difficult to balance,
triangles. as we will see ahead, because the centre of gravity is not on
the telescope axis. This problem is well solved by using Alt-
Azimuth mountings.

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 The above discussion is regarding professional telescopes, but it apply well also for
small telescopes, like those used by amateurs. The reduced available
budget forces amateurs to buy low quality mountings, resulting in a
very instable instrument. For amateur and portable instruments, is best
to use wood instead of aluminium for the tripod, because wood absorb
and not transmit vibrations as any metal do. To achieve maximum
stability a triangle as near the floor as possible joining legs is the
better solution.(figure 16).
Figure 16
A wooden tripod wit tensors
near the floor to achieve
stability.

MOUNTING CONFIGURATIONS
There are two main configurations for a telescope mount: Alt-Azimuth and
Equatorial [Savard 2001][Malacara 1995]. In the following paragraphs I will describe both
and their different and most used configurations.

ALT-AZIMUTH
This kind of mounting, very useful also for terrestrial
observation, was used before the “photography era” and from the
third half of the XX century until now and it is the preferred for
modern giant telescopes. Most telescopes with more than 1 or 2
meters aperture are placed on an Alt-Azimuth mounting. The first
professional instrument that takes the full advantages of an Alt-
Azimuth mounting is the 6 meter Russian Special Astrophysics
Observatory made in 1976.
There are two perpendicular axes, a horizontal one parallel to
the horizon, called Azimuth axis and a vertical one, perpendicular to
it, called Altitude or elevation axis (figure 17).
The observed object is tracked moving simultaneously both
axes. There are many advantages using this mounting, the main one
is the stability because the centre of mass falls always inside the area
Figure 17
Alt-Azimuth occupied by the telescope. There is no need of balancing
mounting movements counterweights, reducing the total mass of the instrument. The total
are one horizontal area occupied by the telescope is reduced; observatory dome and
and one vertical.
building are less than half if compared to a conventional equatorial
mounted telescope of the same aperture, due to this, the overall cost
of the observatory is also cheaper. Huge and heavy instruments can also be placed easier
because they can be mounted on the elevation axis and they are never lifted. It is easy to
convert an Alt-Azimuth mounting to a fixed eyepiece position telescope.
The main reason to not be adopted before 1970 is because the complexity of the
pointing and tracking tasks. As stated above, there is the need of two motors, moving at
variable speed depending on the position of the observed object. Only a dedicated computer
may be programmed to perform according to this. When the object is near the horizon the

6
elevation axis speed is very low, but as the object is moving toward the Zenith, the speed is
changing reaching the maximum at an elevation of 90°. The horizontal axis speed, instead,
is the minimum at the highest elevation and it increase to the maximum when the object is
near the horizon.
For this reason modern telescopes, adopting this configuration, are not able to be
pointed to the Zenith (with the exception of Zenithal telescopes described later); normally
they can be pointed between 15 to 85° of elevation. Even when the telescope can be, in
theory, pointed near the horizon, it is not useful to observe there due to the high value of the
airmass which increase atmospheric distortions and absorption.
During the apparent motion of the object from East to West, the field must be
rotated, if an object is on the left of the centre of the field when it
rises, on the East, will be on the opposite side when it sets on the
West. A so called Field Derotator (figure 18) must be placed in
front of the camera or any other ancillary instrument. It consists
basically in a mirror moved by precise stepping or servo motor.
The speed is proportional to the sidereal rate and must be calibrated
depending on the pixel size of the detector [Teare 2000]. The same
effect can be achieved rotating the whole ancillary instrument,
depending on its size and weight. A third motor, smaller than those
used for tracking, with its relative transmission system, is used.
Now it is clear that only a computer can move simultaneously all
three motors, it has to calculate, many times per second, the correct
Figure 18 speed of each one. For visual observations, there is no need for a field
Field de-rotator.
derotator, the brain can do that job and, also, because the time spent
viewing the object is small compared with a photographic or CCD
exposure.
There are some variations of an Alt-Azimuth mounting, but they are based on the
same principle. Transit Telescopes and Zenithal Telescopes mountings are two special
cases. Amateurs telescopes came also with an Alt-Azimuth mounting with four different
versions: a German equatorial (figure 49), a fork (figure 50), a single arm (figure 51) and a
Dobsonian (figure 20, 52).

Mounting for Transit telescopes

A transit, also called meridian, telescope is a small
aperture refractor mounted onto an Alt-Azimuth mounting
with only one axis movable: the elevation one (figure 19).
The Azimuth axis is fixed because the telescope must point
always to the Meridian (the line that goes from North to
South passing through the Zenith). This telescope takes the
advantage of the rotation of the Earth because stars always
pass the Meridian line, so they are observed during their
passage. Due to the particular application of this telescope to
measure precisely the time when the star pass the Meridian
Figure 19 (collecting data for catalogues
Carlsberg Meridian Transit and measuring Earth rotation
Telescope. rate), the mounting must be

7
perfectly aligned with the East-West line, if there is some error on axes perpendicularity, it
must be precisely known, the basement on which rest the mounting must be very sturdy and
independent from the dome building.

Mounting for DobsonianTelescopes

This is a type of Alt-Azimuth mounting mostly used
by amateurs because it is very easy to construct and uses
cheap materials like wood or plastics (figure 20) for almost
any telescope aperture. Due to lightweight materials and the
capability to be dismounted easily, it is very transportable. It
is used for short focal length Newtonian optical
configurations. It consist mainly on a box containing the
primary mirror moved in altitude by a semicircle rotating
over another box which rotate horizontally over a table.
Secondary mirror are supported by a box. To maintain
reduced the weights it is normally an open structure with
one to four tubes (figure 20 and 52).
A well manufactured Dobsonian mounting can perform very
well for short exposure astrophotography. The rigidity
Figure 20 depends on the stiffness of the support for the secondary
Typical Dobsonian telescope mirror and on the precision of the semicircle that move the
made by amateurs.
telescope around the vertical axis. Normally the movement is
transmitted by friction in the case of a motorized mounting.
This represent an advantage respect to the generation of vibration, because if the friction
rod is held with the correct pressure to the wheel, there is no vibrations. The same principle
is applied also to some giant telescopes [Eaton 1997].

EQUATORIAL
This was the main configuration used in the second half of the XIX and most of the
XX centuries. It consists also on two perpendicular axes, but all the system is inclined at an
angle, over the horizon, equal to the latitude of the
observing place, so the horizontal axis is parallel to
the celestial equator, called declination axis and the
other is perpendicular to it and it is pointing to the
Celestial North Pole, called, for this reason, polar axis
(figure 21).
Equatorial mountings have some great
advantages [Cecchini 1969][Malacara 1995][Oliver
2004]:
1) just one axis movement is needed for
tracking (polar axis) while the declination
axis, when the object is pointed and
centred on the field of view, it remain
fixed;
Figure 21 2) there is no need of a field de-rotator,
Schematic diagram of an equatorial
mounting. because the object remains always in the
same position;

8
 3) tracking the object at a constant speed, so less expensive control system to drive
the telescope is needed, even a completely mechanical one like the gravity load
drive (figure 9) performs well.
The real big problem with this kind of mounting is that the telescope is always
unbalanced, so (such as in German type configurations) large and heavy weights must be
placed on the declination axis which extent away from the optical axis. Many times the
counterweight used to balance the telescope weight more than the optical system (this is
particularly true for amateur telescopes).
The structure of the mounting is large and occupies much more space than the used
for an Alt-Azimuth one. The needed dome diameter is, then, at least 50% larger, but
depending on the configuration, even twice (figure 22). The overall cost of the observatory,
when an equatorial mounting is used, is greater than the cost for a similar telescope with an
Alt-Azimuth mounting.
As we seen before, an Alt-Azimuth mounting may be constructed with pure triangle
structure (figure 15) lowering the weight, but this is not possible for an equatorial mounting
(just the optical tube can be made with triangle structure)
because the mounting and the optical tube needs two
separated structures.
The largest reflector telescope mounted on an
equatorial mounting is the 508 cm Hale at Palomar (made
in 1948) and the largest refractor is the 100 cm at Yerkes
Figure 22
The Keck dome on the right,
(made in1897), today, for sure, both telescopes would be
hosting a 10 meter telescope is on Alt-Azimuth mounting. This is because balancing the
smaller than the Hale dome instrument and the dome size are too much budget
hosting a 5 meters telescope. demanding and mechanical problems raised with such giant
structures very difficult to avoid.

German Equatorial Mounting

This is a mounting invented by Fraunhofer in 1812,
very common for small telescopes, but used also for mid
range and large telescopes in the XIX and the first half of the
XX centuries. The 1 meter Yerkes telescope (figure 2) is one
example. It is an asymmetric structure because the telescope
is not supported on both sides. The declination axis is
supported by the polar axis, not by the basement. The
telescope weight must be balanced by a counterweight,
doubling the mass of the system. Due to this, the declination
axis tends to induce large flexures, so a large diameter tube
must be employed [Beish 1995]. The polar axis is
Figure 23 supported by the basement, but the inertial load on its
Schematic diagram of a German end is huge. The union point of the declination axis to
Equatorial mounting.
the polar axis must be very strong. Overall weight of
the structure is very high.
Polar axis is pointing to the celestial North Pole, this way the telescope can point any where
(figure 23).

9
 The height of the pillar must be at least as the half of the length of the optical tube,
this imply that the probability of flexures is very high, even if the basement is large and
heavy. For this reason it is better for short focal length telescopes.
To avoid large counterweight it is possible to place smaller ones, but at the expense
of the lengthening of the declination axis, creating dangerous vibrations and flexures.
The most used optical configurations for telescopes
supported by this mounting are refractors, astrographs,
Cassegrain and Newtonian if they have short focal length. It is
best suitable for photographic purposes, because, if it is used
visually, the observer has to be lifted depending on the
declination of the object pointed by the telescope.
It is possible to convert a German Equatorial mounted
telescope into a fixed position eyepiece telescope by deviate the
light path at least two times, the first parallel to the declination
axis and the second parallel to the polar axis. Both deviating
mirrors must be rotating, incrementing the difficult of the
mechanical and control system.
Amateur telescopes came with this kind of mounting,
but modern professional telescopes do not, precisely because of
Figure 24
50 cm. Newtonian on
the huge and sturdied structure that they need for supporting
German Equatorial ancillary instruments.
mount at the University All professional refractors are supported on this type of
of Thailand.
mounting, also some Newtonian (figure 24) and Cassegrain.

Fork Mounting
This mounting replaced German Equatorial for
medium to large telescopes. The polar axis ends into a fork
(figure 25). Two bearings hold the polar axis to the
basement, one has to be very large in diameter because it
must support all the weight of the telescope, the second is
smaller because it acts as an ending support to avoid too
much stress and flexure. The basement must be of heavy
construction.
The optical tube is held in the middle of the fork, so
the declination axis length is nearly zero, this is an
advantage because there is no stress and the weight of the
Figure25
Schematic diagram of a fork optical tube is shared by both sides of the fork.
mounting. This configuration is best suited for short tube
telescopes like Schmidt (figure 26), Schmidt-Cassegrain,
Cassegrain, Newtonian, Astrograph and short focal length refractors; it was used mainly in
the XIX century for telescopes with primary mirror diameter up to 2.5 meters. It was
designed by Lassell in 1861.
Fork mounted telescopes do not be able to be pointed near the Zenith because the
polar axis is maintained short to avoid flexures and mechanical stress.
There is no need, almost in theory, to counterweight the telescope because this task
is performed by the polar axis that is firmly supported by the basement. In practice, the

10
declination axis is not positioned in the middle of the optical tube because the weight of the
primary mirror is much higher than the weight of the secondary, if there is some instrument
attached on the Cassegrain focus, the telescope must be balanced placing counterweights on
the top end of the tube. As in the German equatorial it is the
polar axis that supports all the weight of the telescope.
Medium to large size amateur’s telescopes came with
this kind of mounting.
To convert a telescope supported by this mounting
on a fixed position eyepiece telescope, are valid the same
considerations made for other equatorial mountings.

Figure 26
Schmidt telescope at
Mt. Palomar.

English Yoke Mounting

This mounting consist of a set of two piers, one higher
than the other, the polar axis forms with the basement and the
piers a rectangle triangle (figure 27). The angle formed by the
shortest pier and the basement is equal to the latitude of the
observatory.
The telescope is held in the middle of a closed fork
attached at the top of both piers, giving a symmetric
Figure 27 distribution of loads. The declination
English Yoke scheme. axis, like in fork mount, is nearly zero.
This mounting is best suitable for short focal length
telescopes (figure 28) and it has the disadvantage to not be
pointed close to the pole. If large diameter telescope are
supported by this mounting, the mechanical stress on the
declination axis is an issue. As for fork mounting, the telescope
must be counterweight or balanced
Figure 28
Crossley reflector on English
only if there is some instrument
Yoke mounting. attached to the primary mirror end.
If a telescope on such
mounting would be converted to a fixed eyepiece instrument, a
greater number of mirrors are needed, compared with those for
fork and German Equatorial mounts.

Horseshoe Mounting
This mounting is similar to the Yoke, but solve the problem for supporting large
telescopes. It was used for all telescopes larger than 2.5 meters and it was introduced with
the 5 meters Hale at Mt. Palomar. This is the last equatorial mounting scheme adopted

11
 before the advent of computer controlled Alt-Azimuth
mounting for large telescopes in the decade of 1970.
Figure 29 Instead of a simple support at
Horseshoe mounting the long pier top end, as for the
scheme. Yoke, there is a fork, shaped as a
horseshoe. So the closed two arms fork support the
declination axis on both sides and the horseshoe support the
polar axis (figure 29). To avoid vibrations, the mounting
basement is independent from the dome building.
This configuration solves the problem to point the
telescope at the Pole because it is an open structure
system.
Like a Yoke mounted
Figure 30
An horseshoe mounting telescope, there is the need for
support the Anglo a great number of deviating
Australian Telescope. mirrors to convert the telescope
into a fixed eyepiece one (at
least 4).
The Anglo Australian Telescope (figure 30) and the Hale
telescopes are the largest aperture examples.

Inverted fork Mounting

This configuration is similar to the Fork, but now the telescope is not supported by
the fork ends, it is attached to the
fork base. At the fork ends there are
two balancing counterweights. Polar
axis must be strong enough to
support the full load of the telescope,
most of the mass of the mounting
and the counterweight (figure 31).
This mounting share all the properties of a German
Figure 31 Equatorial, because the telescope can be pointed anywhere in the
Inverted fork
scheme.
sky. Flexures problems of the polar axis are an issue.
The conversion of a telescope supported by this kind of
mounting to a fixed position eyepiece can be achieved adding two rotating mirrors.

Cross-axis Mounting
This mounting is similar to the Yoke, it is an hybrid
between this and a German Equatorial. Instead of a closed fork,
there is just an axis, the telescope is attached on one side and
there is the need of a counterweight the same way as in German
Equatorial (figure 32).
The telescope can be pointed anywhere on the sky. It is
also suitable for short focal length telescopes because piers must
be higher if a long optical tube is used to
Figure 32
Cross Axis mounting observe objects near the Celestial Equator.
scheme. Mechanical stress over the polar

12
axis is twice the measured with a Yoke structure, because there is just one axis instead of
two. The load to be supported is also greater due to the presence of the counterweight, so to
avoid flexures and torsions, large diameter axis must be used. Declination axis also suffered
flexures and torsion problems.
As for yoke mounted telescopes, there is the need
of at least 4 mirrors to convert it to a fixed position
eyepiece instrument.
Many telescopes in the range from 1 to 2 meters diameter
uses this kind of
Figure 33
A telescope mounted on an cross axis
mounting (figure
mounting. 33).

FIXED POSITION EYEPIECE CONFIGURATIONS

As seen above, huge instruments can not be fitted to the telescope focal plane nor to
the optical tube assembly because of their weight and dimensions. Light path must then
modified to carry the image of the observed object away
from the telescope assembly or to platforms on both sides of
the telescope (figure 34), this is done by the interposition of
some mirrors in the light path (figure 35). It is superfluous
to say that the optical quality of such mirrors must be as
good as the primary and secondary ones. These mirrors have
to be supported firmly, any vibration or deformation of the
structure can distort the
Figure 34
Platforms on both sides of the image, the goal is to deviate
telescope are where the light rays with the
instruments can be placed minimum number of
(large boxes).
additional mirrors because
each one reflects less than 100% of the incoming light. Obviously is not useful to have a
very large collecting area (the primary mirror) if there is too much loss of light in the
optical system [Warner 2002]. In some cases, these additional mirrors are not fixed, they
rotate depending on the position of the telescope; this fact
represent a complication of the mechanical structure of
the telescope and, obviously, to the control system.
Another drawback is the change of the polarization of the
incoming light due to this rotation.
If we disregard the
Figure 35
Using additional mirrors number of additional mirrors,
(blue), the light may be every mounting configuration
deviated to a fixed can be converted to a fixed
position.
position eyepiece telescope, it
depends only on the kind and quantity of instruments they have to carry on. For this reason
only giant telescopes are designed this way.
Light rays can be deviated to many parts of the instrument (both sides, behind
primary mirror, etc) using partially reflective mirrors or changing the position of the first
deviating mirror to reflect light to different angles as showed in figure 36.

13
 There are two main optical configurations useful for this purpose called Coudé and
Nasmyth.
A special case of Alt-Azimuth
mountings with the capability for fixed
position eyepieces are the Solar and Zenithal
telescopes, all are described in the following
paragraphs.
Conventional optical configurations for
telescopes are very different, depending on the
mirror, lenses or both used to achieve the best
possible image without aberrations. They have
in common that the instrument is attached to
the optical tube. The difference, with fixed
position eyepiece optical designs, is that the
image is obtained out of the optical tube.

Figure 36
Using rotating mirrors the light can be directed
to many different instruments.

Mounting for Coudé Telescopes

Light gathered by the primary mirror of a
reflecting telescope is reflected to the secondary
mirror and, from this, to a series of auxiliary mirrors
which carry the light through the polar axis of the
mounting until the basement or a room below the
telescope (figure 37).
This configuration is used when long focal
length are needed as for planetary observations or for
high resolution spectroscopy (figure 38).
The number of auxiliary mirrors and if they
are rotating, depends on the
Figure 37
Diagram of a
mounting design, but the best
telescope with suited for this are the English
Coudé focus. Yoke, the Horseshoe and the Cross
Axis. Coudé telescopes are most of the time Schmidt,
Cassegrain and also refractors but not so common. The
first auxiliary mirror can be a partially reflective or a
prism, this is because, depending on the observation, it
Figure 38 may be necessary to have
Light from the telescope is the Cassegrain and/or the
redirected to the instrument Schmidt foci available at
on a room below the
telescope. the same time than the
Coudé (two instruments

14
working simultaneously).
To interchange the Coudé focus with the Cassegrain or the Schmidt, a tilting mirror is
used; in one position is able to direct light to other mirrors creating the Coudé focus but, if
it is tilted to a perpendicular position respect to the primary mirror, the light forms an image
at the Cassegrain or Schmidt foci.

Mounting for Nasmyth Telescopes

The light collect by the primary mirror is reflected to the secondary and then to an
auxiliary mirror. The image is not created on a room below the telescope as in the Coudé
focus, but on a side of the telescope (figure 39). So Nasmyth optical configuration is used
when short focal length are needed or just to deviate
outside the optical tube
Figure 39 the primary focus. Many
Diagram of a telescope with
Nasmyth focus.
times there are both
possibilities: the long
Cassegrain focus and the
short primary focus. The focus interchange is made
by the same way as described above for the Coudé system.
Every giant telescope has almost one Nasmyth focus,
but normally they have two, one on each side of the optical
tube. Due to the short path that light have to travel, the image
if formed just outside the optical tube, normally passing
through the elevation axis of an Alt-Azimuth mounting
(figure 40). The ancillary instrumentation is placed on
Figure 40 platforms where there are also
Structure of the Gemini the elevation motor.
telescope showing platforms
for instrumentation at
Nasmyth focus.

Mounting for Solar Telescopes

Solar telescopes are not conventional
telescopes in the sense that they have not a mounting
structure and an optical tube. They have a set of
mirrors collecting light and sending it to a laboratory
where the instrumentation (camera and
spectroscopes), are placed (figure 42).
Only small aperture telescopes for solar observation
are similar to a conventional telescope.
The light is collected by a mirror on the top of a tower
and a series of secondary rotating mirrors, following the Sun, deviate
Figure 41
Solar telescope. the light inside the tower until they are focussed (figure 41). These are
very long focal length instruments to achieve the largest image as
possible and to spread the spectral lines as much as possible.

15
 Figure 42
Left: structure of a solar
telescope.
Right: Mirrors collecting the
sunlight and following the Sun.

Mounting for Off Axis Telescopes

Small off axis telescopes are normally long focal

length instruments, but large aperture uses mainly
their primary short focus. The main concept behind
this design is to have
Figure 43 the possibility to collect
One example of an off-axis as much light as
configuration.
possible without having
the secondary mirror obstruction which can reduce the
incoming light and image contrast. In this optical configuration the primary mirror is not
perpendicular to the incoming light, but it is tilted, so the light is deviated to a side of the
telescope. Light is reflected by flat and curved mirrors,
depending on the required final focal length. Almost every
type of mounting design are suited for small off axis
telescopes, but for larger, the Alt-Azimuth is better.
This design is more used for radiotelescopes than for
optical ones, but in recent years two observatory adopted it:
the Hobby Eberly and the South African telescopes.
These large
Figure 44 aperture telescopes are
Hobby Eberly primary mirror tilted
to reflect the light to the tower behind mounted on a modified
the dome. Alt-Azimuthal mounting.
There are no movement
of the telescope because they are pointing to some angle on
the sky and reflect the light collected by the primary mirror to
a secondary one or directly to the sensors (cameras or
spectroscopes) placed on the top of a tower near the dome
(figure 44).
The advantage of this configuration is that the mechanical structure is enormously
simplified, there are no movement nor support for secondary and auxiliary mirrors, so the
cost is much less than for a conventional telescope. The sensor is moved over the primary
(at an offset angle) so there is not obstruction for the incoming light. As Earth rotate, stars
moves over the primary and reflected to the sensor.

16
 A disadvantage is that the telescope is not able to be pointed to all part of the sky,
but it has a coverage of some decades of degree.
Mounting for ZenithTelescopes
A Zenith Telescope is pointed directly to the Zenith, they were
used for timing purposes in the beginning of the XIX century. They
are not supported by a conventional mounting, the are just placed with
the optical axis pointing straight up. They are a special case of the
transit telescopes (which has just one possible movement) because for
these there are no moving axes.

Figure 45
39 cm Zenith telescope.

Mounting for Liquid Mirror Telescopes

Strictly speaking this type of telescope do not have a
mounting. Liquid mirror telescopes uses a mercury bath as the
reflecting surface instead of a glass primary mirror. The bath is
rotating attached to an air bearing, the great density and specific
weight of the metal forms, naturally, a parabolic concave reflector.
This metal is highly reflective, but dangerous, so many precautions
must be taken to avoid
Figure 46 environment and human
Liquid mirror telescope structure. contamination.
These are short focal
length telescopes working on primary focus. At the top of a
simple structure there are is a corrector and the image sensor.
This is a special case of the zenith telescope, because the
rotating bath must be placed in an exactly horizontal position to
avoid spilling or overflowing.
Figure 47 The advantage is the reduced
6 m diameter liquid mirror
telescope.
cost of the mechanical structure,
because the only thing that is moving
is the bath and the mercury do the job of the glass mirror. As
Zenithal telescopes the sky is scanned using the Earth rotation, so
this is only a partial disadvantage.
The real great problem with this telescopes is the oxidation of the mercury so the
maintenance cost of the bath is high.
More advantages of a fixed eyepiece telescope
As we see in previous sections having a fixed position eyepiece telescope give the
opportunity to place many instruments improving the efficiency of the instrument. But
there is also another very important issue that is the opportunity to show to, common
people the marvels of the Universe. Placing the eye at a telescope ocular it may be very
uncomfortable for many people because of the position of the telescope. Most of the time
people do not see anything because light do not reach their pupil, so they only see a blank
or black circle [Duran, Malacara 2004]. My own experience, during a public observation

17
session, is that more than half assistants suffered this problem, it is difficult to properly
align the eye with the telescope, especially when a medium to short focal length ocular is
used or the telescope is pointing at more than 45° elevation (figure 48).
People on wheel chairs, with broken legs or arms, whit some mobility disability, or simply
aged people unable to do “contortionism”, are automatically
excluded to direct observation through a telescope. Having a fixed
position ocular, bringing the focussed object far from the
telescope mounting, gives to these people a chance to see stars
and planets.
Normally people tendency, when observing through the
ocular, is to lean against the telescope or the ocular itself, most of
the time producing vibrations or, in the
Figure 48
Uncomfortable position worst case, moving the telescope.
for observing. During the observing session, the
telescope is continuously moving
tracking the sky, so the position of the ocular is also changing, than observers are forced to
take different positions depending on that. With a fixed position eyepiece telescope all the
above are no more a problem because people may be comfortably seated without the need
to touch the instrument.
PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR MOUNTINGS DIFFERENCES
Even when there are no differences in theory, in practice the
telescope mounting used by amateurs are completely different in
performance and construction (figure 49, 50, 51, 52). The main difference
is portability because most of the time they are forced to move to a dark
sky location or simply to the roof of their home or in the backyard. But
portability does not necessary means
Figure 49 instability because the instrument may be
German Equatorial mount fitted to a dismountable or sectioned pier.
on tripod.
Some mechanical tricks may also be
implemented like adding triangle structures or enlarging the axes.
The Achilles heel of a typical mounting used by amateurs consists on
the very small, compared to the rest of the structure, joint of the mounting
with the tripod. If an equatorial mounting is used, the telescope tilt plate is
Figure 50 supported only by a small screw or small diameter
Fork mount on tripod. tube, giving a lot of instability.
Amateurs telescopes carries only small and
light weight cameras, only a few are devoted to spectroscopy, so the size and
weight of the mounting is many order of magnitude less than the used by professionals.

Figure 51 Figure 52
Single arm mount on Dobsonian mount.
tripod.

18
CONCLUSIONS
The mechanical structure of a telescope is as important as the optical and the control
system because imperfections, deformations or vibrations on the mounting structure can
distort the image.
For this reason many mounting designs were made, each one having some
advantages over the other, but at the cost of some drawbacks too, it is not possible to design
a perfect and universal mounting.
The enormous light collecting capacity of modern telescopes implies the
construction of mechanical structures capable to sustain loads of several to hundred of ton,
but there are two difficult problems to solve: cost and size. A large instrument cost more
than a small one, but the cost is not only due to the optical part, a great percentage is for the
mechanical structure and the dome which has to host the instrument.
Stability and rigidity are the main features involved in the design and construction
of modern telescope mountings, so mid size and large telescopes are supported by Alt-
Azimuth mountings instead of Equatorials because the latter demands more space, are
much more heavy and do not have the capacity to sustain huge ancillary instruments.
An equatorial mount is much easier to point and move to any part of the sky than an
Alt-Azimuth one, but, today, computers are so powerful that controlling many motors
simultaneously is not an issue. The construction of telescopes with equatorial mounting is
then limited to the smallest ones.
Light collected by the primary mirror of large telescopes is carried to many
instruments like CCD cameras and spectrographs, to achieve the best performance, the
largest field of view and to study very fine details, these instruments are huge and heavy,
most of the time they must be placed far from the telescope, in the mounting basement or in
an adjacent room.
Mounting structures and optical systems must be modified to carry the light path to
a fixed position where the cameras or the spectrographs are firmly placed, no matter where
the telescope is pointing to.
I am sure that amateur telescopes mountings could be designed and manufactured in
a much better way, clearly at higher cost, but results obtained with a more stable and
precise tracking functionality could be more interesting and they can contribute to science
in a much better way. Amateurs are many orders of magnitude more than professionals and
they are widespread around the world.

REFERENCES
Andrenelli P., L´Astronomo dilettante, Sansoni, 1968.

Barney Smith E., et al, Rapid Response Telescope (RRT) for Gamma Ray Bursa (GRB)
Acquisition, http://coen.boisestate.edu/EBarneySmith/GRB/mount_design.htm

Barbieri C., Large optical telescopes, World Scientific, 2002, http://www.pd.astro.it

Buckman A., Telescope pointing errors and corrections, AWR Technologies, 2002,
http://www.awr.tech.dial.pipex.com

19
Beish J., A german equatorial mount for the planetary telescope,

Cecchini G., Il Cielo, Utet, 1969.

Covington M., Astrophotography for the amateurs, Cambridge, 2002.

Duran-Ramirez V.M., Malacara Doblado D., Some considerations regarding the exit
pupil location in some visual systems, Revista Mexicana de Fisica 50 (4) 397-400, 2004.

Eaton J., Structural analysys of the telescope mount, 1997

Kollmorgen, Direct drive motors: http://www.kollmorgen.com

Lucchesi D., Tecnologia meccanica, Sansoni, 1974.

Malacara D., Malacara J.M., Telescopios y estrellas, Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1995.

Mobberley M., Telescopes, mounts and control systems, Encyclopedia of Astronomy and
Astrophysics, 2005.

Mt. Palomar Telescopes: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/hale.html

Oliver J, Techniques of observational Astronomy (AST3722), University of Florida, 2004

http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~oliver/ast3722/ast3722.htm

Orange County Astronomers, Telescope Mounts, http://

Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Attivita scientifica dal 1987 al 1998, OATO, 1999.

Russia Astrophysical Observatory: http://www.sao.ru/Doc-en/Telescopes/bta/descrip.html

Savard J., Telescope mountings, 2001,

http://members.shaw.ca/quadibloc/science/opt03.htm

Teare S., UNISIS Field de-rotator, 2000: http://www.ee.nmt.edu/~teare/fielddr.htm

Telescope Mounting,
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/T/telescope_mounting.html

Trueblood M., Genet R., Microcomputer control of telescopes, Wilmann-Bell inc., 1985.

University of Texas, Astronomy 301-Introduction to Astronomy, Classnotes 7,

http://www.as.utexas.edu/astronomy/education/spring01/lambert/classnotes7.html

Yerkes Telescope: http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/40inch.html

20
Warner M., Alt-Azimuth vs. Equatorial: number of reflections to Coudé, ATST, 2002,
http://atst.nso.edu

Wikipedia, Telescope_mount, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope_mount

http://www.starstuff.com/index.htm

http://home.earthlink.net/~indig/DesignMusings/text/Design_Mountings.html

http://www.astrosurf.com/re/history_telescope.html

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup/teacher/grabbag.html

http://www.quadibloc.com/science/opt03.htm

IMAGE CREDITS
Figure 1
Antique telescopes:
http://www.antiquetelescopes.org/short_reflector.jpg
Figure 2
Lick refracting telescope mount:
http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/images/telescopes/lick36in.jpg
Figure 3
Gemini South telescope:
http://www.gemini.edu/index.php?set_albumName=album03&option=com_gallery&Itemid
=39&include=slideshow.php
Figure 4
Yerkes telescope: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/centcat/fac/fac_img11.html
Figure 5
Correcting lens group for the AAT: http://crystalnebulae.co.uk/2dfscience.html
Figure 6
Secondary mirror structure of the Keck telescope:
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/oconnell/astr121/im/keck-mirror-ex.jpg
Figure 7
Active optics on back of the primary mirror of the Subaru telescope:
http://www.instanthawaii.com/Images/Astronomy/sub9.jpg
Figure 8
Liquid mirror telescope primary reflective surface:
http://www.hipas.alaska.edu/hipasweb/lidar.htm
Figure 9
Gravity drive motor: http://www.palomar.edu/astronomy/Astronomy/UnitronDrive.jpg
Figure 10
Transmission of movement by gears: http://archive.princeton.edu/~asas/gif/asas3_large.gif
Figure 11
Astrograph at Lowell Observatory:
http://www.cerritos.edu/ladkins/lowell/pluto_camera.htm

21
Figure 12
Spectrograph on 4 meter Kitt Peak Observatory:
http://www.noao.edu/kpno/manuals/rcspec/rcsp.gif
Figure 13
Spectrograph on the Nasmyth focus of the Galileo telescope on La Palma Observatory:
http://www.merate.mi.astro.it/docM/reports/ann2000/ren00/img178.png
Figure 14
Mt. Wilson 100 inches telescope: http://www.mtwilson.edu/vir/100/
Figure 15
Schematic of a modern giant telescope mounting:
http://imglib.lbl.gov/ImgLib/COLLECTIONS/BERKELEY-LAB/RESEARCH-1991-
PRESENT/ASTROPHYSICS/images/96703309.lowres.jpeg
Figure 16
Wooden tripod: Covington M, Astrophotography for the amateurs, Cambridge, 2002.
Figure 17:
Alt-Azimuth mounting movements:
http://digilander.libero.it/andromedda/I%20telescopi%20-
%20Montature%20per%20telescopi.htm
Figure 18
Field derotator: http://www.ee.nmt.edu/~teare/fielddr.htm
Figure 19
Carlsberg Meridian Transit Telescope:
http://www.astro.ku.dk/~michael/telescope/trans.html
Figure 20
Dobsonian telescope: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~mihal/telescope/edited/telescope.jpg
Figure 21
Equatorial mount schematics: http://www.starstuff.com/index.htm
Figure 22
Keck versus Hale telescope domes: http://spacecraftkits.com/KFacts.html
Figure 23
Equatorial mounting scheme: http://www.starstuff.com/index.htm
Figure 24
Fork mounting scheme: http://www.starstuff.com/index.htm
Figure 25
University of Thailand telescope: http://www.astrofox.nl/page.cfm?id=31&popup=1
Figure 26
Mt. Palomar Schmidt telescope:
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/images/oschin_telescope_2_med.jpg
Figure 27
English Yoke scheme: http://www.starstuff.com/index.htm
Figure 28
Crossley reflector at Lick Observatory:
http://www.ucolick.org/graphics/crossleynew_lg.jpg
Figure 29
Horseshoe mounting scheme: http://members.shaw.ca/quadibloc/science/opt03.htm
Figure 30
Anglo Australian Telescope:

22
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~bedding/images/telescopes/aat.jpg
Figure 31
Inverted fork scheme: http://www.quadibloc.com/science/opt03.htm
Figure 32
Cross Axis scheme:
http://home.earthlink.net/~indig/DesignMusings/text/Design_Mountings.html
Figure 33
122 cm telescope at Asiago Observatory:
http://dipastro.pd.astro.it/progettoeducativo/telescopi.htm
Figure 34
William Herschel mounting design: http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/archive/wht/wht3d.jpg
Figure 35
Light path deviation example: http://members.shaw.ca/quadibloc/science/opt03.htm
Figure 36
William Herschel telescope optical design:
http://www.astro.ufl.edu/icons/gtc/optics_layout.gif
Figure 37
Coude focus located below the telescope: http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~dfgray/observat.html
Figure 38
Ondrejov observatory 2m coude telescope: http://www.asu.cas.cz/~had/coude.jpg
Figure 39
Optical diagram of Nasmyth focus:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Nasmyth-
Telescope.svg/232px-Nasmyth-Telescope.svg.png
Figure 40
Gemini telescope structure: http://www.us-gemini.noao.edu/public/images/telescope.gif
Figure 41
Solar telescope at Kitt Peak: http://nsokp.nso.edu/mp/images/02170a.jpg
Figure 42
Solar telescope at Koeln university:
http://www.ph1.uni-
koeln.de/workgroups/astro_instrumentation/this/images/sonnenturm.gif
Figure 43
Off axis optical diagram: http://www.quadibloc.com/science/images/scheif.gif
Figure 44
Hobby Eberly Telescope: http://txtell.lib.utexas.edu/stories/media/m0005-10.html
Figure 45
Zenith telescope at Tuorla Observatory: http://www.astro.utu.fi/telescopes/zenit.htm
Figure 46
Liquid mirror telescope structure:
http://www.phys.psu.edu/~cowen/popular-articles/sciam/1299musser11.gif
Figure 47
Liquid Mirror Telescope: http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/measure/images/lmt.jpg
Figure 48
Observing stars at not comfortable position:
http://www.astrofiliaurunca.com/ricerca/images/star%20party%2020021.jpg

23
Figure 49
German Equatorial mount: http://www.skywatchertelescope.com/EQ1.html
Figure 50
Fork mount:
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3126807&cr=1169&bhcd2=1131880398
Figure 51
Single arm mount: http://www.celestron.com/c2/images/files/product/11022-XLT-SE-
SA_nexstar8ixltspe_large.gif
Figure 52
Dobsonian mount:
http://www.celestron.com/c2/images/files/product/10110_starhopper10_large.gif

24