altitude-azimuth mounting

altitude-azimuth mounting

[¦al·tə‚tüd ′az·ə·məth ‚mau̇nt·iŋ]
(engineering)
A two-axis telescope mounting in which the azimuth of the direction in which the telescope is pointed is determined by rotation about a vertical axis and the corresponding altitude is determined by rotation about a horizontal axis; computer-controlled motors must move the telescope in both altitude and azimuth to compensate for the earth's rotation. Also known as alt-azimuth mounting.
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References in periodicals archive ?
The plan, as it has evolved since 1984 when NOAO decided that the NNTT should be a multiple-mirror telescope, envisions four mirrors, each of 7.5 meters diameter, hung in a common altitude-azimuth mounting. In this mounting the telescope rotates in horizontal and vertical planes.
NNTT's next generation: harmonizing a quartet of large telescopes

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