LARGEST REFRACTION TELESCOPE IN EUROPE
Abstract
A new reflecting telescope was installed in the Tautenberg Observatory in the German Democratic Republic, having a 2-m-diam. mirror, it belongs to the largest reflector in the world. In Europe, it yields only to the 2.6-m telescope under construction in the Soviet Union. The telescope's main parts are: a 2-m-diam. concave mirror, a 1.34-m-diam. correcting plate, a photographic system having 4-m focal distance and a 1 to 3 aperture ratio. The telescope is capable of studying large areas of the sky. These sections can be photographed on 24 x 24 cm plates. This multipurpose unit is made up outwardly of an approximately 10-m long tube with a square cross-section and a parallax stand. The stand can make the telescope track a celestial body with extraordinary precision by means of a timing device. The movable section weighs 65,000 kg, therefore, special adjustments composed of forced lubrication bearings are required for the precision control of the telescope. By means of an accurate 2160-mm-diam. worm gear, the telescope can be made to rotate. The unit of the 26,000 kg tube, set at an angle determined with respect to the axis of declination in a system of astronomical coordinates, operates automatically from a central and from several complementary control panels. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0259258
Entities
Organizations
- National Air and Space Intelligence Center