Based in the Bolshoi Zelenchuk Valley of the Greater Caucasus near the village of Nizhny Arkhyz, the observatory houses the BTA-6 and RATAN-600, an optical and radio telescope, respectively.

The large housing dome and massive 42 tonne mirror make it difficult to maintain the telescope at a suitable constant temperature during observing sessions.

Atmospheric turbulence caused by windflow over the nearby Caucasus peaks can lead to poor seeing at the site, and observations with an angular resolution better than an arcsecond are rare.

The telescope can operate in three modes:[2] Independent observations at various discrete azimuths are possible simultaneously: For this a sector of the ring is used with one of the secondary mirror and receiver units, the later which can be positioned on railway tracks – meanwhile another sector in conjunction with another secondary mirror can be used for an independent observation.

At a wavelength of 8 cm, the effective collecting area of the entire ring is 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) with a resolving power in the horizontal plane of 1 arcminute.