The UK 1.2 metre Schmidt Telescope came into operation in 1973 with the primary purpose of extending to southern declinations the Sky Survey carried out with the Palomar 1.2 metre (48 inch) Schmidt Telescope. This telescope is, in most respects, an exact copy of the Palomar telescope, but several recent developments result in a much fainter limiting magnitude (by about 2 magnitudes) for the Southern Survey. The UK Schmidt Telescope has an aperture of 1.2m, and the spherical primary has a diameter of 1.83m and focal length 3.07m. The plates have the dimensions 356 x 356mm, giving a field of view of 61/2°; the plate scale is 67″ 1/mm.