Telescope mount

Many sorts of mounts have been developed over the years, with the majority of effort being put into systems that can track the motion of the fixed stars as the Earth rotates.

This allows the telescope to view the whole sky, but only when the Earth's rotation allows the objects to cross (transit) through that narrow north-south line (the meridian).

Transit mounts are also used to save on cost or where the instruments mass makes movement on more than one axis very difficult, such as large radio telescopes.

Slewing or mechanically driving the mount's polar axis in a counter direction to the Earth's rotation allows the telescope to accurately follow the motion of the night sky.

Designs such as German equatorial or cross axis mounts also need large counter weights to counterbalance the mass of the telescope.

Larger domes and other structures are also needed to cover the increased mechanical size and range of movement of equatorial mounts.