The KAO Nasmyth Mounting Flange

Most of the actual telescope is walled off from the rest of the plane and exposed directly to the brutal outside elements. The only part of the telescope accessible inside the cabin is the Nasmyth Mounting Flange, which roughly translates into English to mean, "The part that sticks out and can have stuff attached."

This is where the telescope focuses the infrared light into the astronomer's instrument. The signal is then usually fed to the Instrument Rack for processing.

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