GMT Primary Mirror Progress
Work continues at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab to produce the primary mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope.
| The Giant Magellan Telescope's
primary mirror is comprised of seven mirror segments, each 8.4 meters
(27.5 feet) in diameter. The first mirror segment has been successfully cast and removed from its mold. The glass was mounted to a lifting assembly and then carefully lifted and rotated to a vertical position. The next big step was to clean out the mirror. Using a high-pressure water jet, lab technicians blasted out about 1700 ceramic cores which had been molded into the glass. The cores' hexagonal shape leaves behind a honeycomb pattern of voids. This makes a mirror much lighter than a solid glass mirror. The honeycomb voids will also allow the mirror to cool more quickly to the nighttime air temperature, which results in better images. The mirror casting and cleanout were both completed ahead of schedule. |