What feature makes the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) structurally atypical among large telescopes?
Answer
Its massive mirror is fixed at a 55-degree tilt relative to the horizon.
The HET employs a design where its mirror surface is fixed at a 55-degree angle relative to the horizon, using a rotating floor mechanism to access about 70 percent of the visible sky, which reduces complexity associated with moving large structures.
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