The Hexapod-Telescope (HPT) is a telescope located at Cerro Armazones Observatory in northern Chile.[1] The 1.5 metres (59 in) Ritchey-Chrétien reflecting telescope is notable for the design of the telescope mount. Instead of the typical mounting where the telescope moves on two rotating axes, the mirror end of the telescope is supported by six extensible struts, an arrangement known as a Stewart platform. This configuration allows the telescope to move in all six spatial degrees of freedom and also provides strong structural integrity.[2] As a result, the ratio of bearing pressure and its own weight is very high. Furthermore, the six-leg structure allows for a very precise positioning and repeatability. The disadvantage of the system is that controlling and aiming a hexapod-mounted telescope is much more complex than with conventional telescope mounts.

Hexapod-Telescope

Hexapod Telescope on Cerro Armazones
Part of	Cerro Armazones Observatory
Location(s)	Cerro Armazones, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile
Coordinates	24°35′53″S 70°11′47″W
Organization	Ruhr University Bochum
Altitude	2,817 m (9,242 ft)
Built	–1999 (–1999)
First light	2006
Telescope style	optical telescope Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Diameter	1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Website	www.astro.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Astrophysik/all_infos.html
Location of Hexapod-Telescope
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The mounting was designed by engineers of the company Vertex, in collaboration with astronomers of the Astronomy Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (AIRUB) in Germany.[2] Led by Prof. Rolf Chini, the HPT was thoroughly tested at AIRUB. In 2006, it was moved to its new location on Cerro Armazones Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. AIRUB, in collaboration with the Astronomy Department of the Catholic University of the North (UCN), is developing an observatory there. A new control building was built next to the HPT on the summit of Cerro Murphy, a subsidiary peak of Cerro Armazones.

Together with the Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl, AIRUB developed the Bochum Echelle Spectrograph for the Optical (BESO) for the HPT.[3] It is a copy of the Fiber-fed Extended Range Optical Spectrograph (FEROS) operated by the European Southern Observatory.[4]

See also

• Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy
• Telescope mount

References

Further reading

• Theodor Schmidt-Kaler: The Hexapod Telescope: A New Way to Very Large Telescopes. In: Progress in Telescope and Instrumentation Technologies, ESO Conference and Workshop Proceedings, ESO Conference on Progress in Telescope and Instrumentation Technologies, ESO, Garching, 27–30 April 1992, Garching: European Southern Observatory (ESO), 1992, edited by Marie-Helene Ulrich, p. 117

External links

• AIRUB - Observatorio Cerro Armazones at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Observatorío Cerro Armazones (OCA) at Universidád Católica del Norte
• Hexapod for ALMA Radio Telescopes' secondary mirror

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