{"id":8970,"date":"2023-09-26T09:54:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/?p=8970"},"modified":"2023-09-26T09:54:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:54:30","slug":"the-giant-magellan-telescopes-final-mirror-fabrication-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/?p=8970","title":{"rendered":"The Giant Magellan Telescope\u2019s Final Mirror Fabrication Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
University of Arizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab staff members placing chunks of Ohara E6 low expansion glass into a mold for casting the Giant Magellan Telescope’s seventh primary mirror segment, September 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Giant Magellan Telescope begins the four-year process to fabricate and polish its seventh and final primary mirror, the last required to complete the telescope\u2019s 368 square meter light collecting surface, the world\u2019s largest and most challenging optics ever produced. Together, the mirrors will collect more light than any other telescope in existence, allowing humanity to unlock the secrets of the Universe by providing detailed chemical analyses of celestial objects and their origin.<\/p>\n

Last week, the University of Arizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab closed the lid on nearly 20 tons of the purest optical glass inside a one-of-a-kind oven housed beneath the stands of the Arizona Wildcats Football Stadium. The spinning oven will heat the glass to 1,165\u00b0C so as it melts, it is forced outward to form the mirror\u2019s curved paraboloid surface. Measuring 8.4-meters in diameter\u2014about two stories tall when standing on edge\u2014the mirror will cool over the next three months before moving into the polishing stage.<\/p>\n

At 50 million times more powerful than the human eye, \u201cthe telescope will make history through its future discoveries,\u201d shares Buell Jannuzi, Principal Investigator for the fabrication of the Giant Magellan Telescope primary mirror segments, Director of Steward Observatory, and Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. \u201cWe are thrilled to be closing in on another milestone in the fabrication of the Giant Magellan Telescope.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The most recently completed primary mirror is ready for integration into a giant support system prototype early next year for final optical performance testing. This testing will serve as the dress rehearsal for all seven primary mirrors. Once assembled, all seven mirrors will work in concert as one monolithic 25.4-meter mirror\u2014a diameter equal to the length of a full-grown blue whale\u2014resulting in up to 200 times the sensitivity and four times the image resolution of today\u2019s most advanced space telescopes.<\/p>\n

The Giant Magellan Telescope will be the first extremely large telescope to complete its primary mirror array. With strong operational infrastructure completed at the telescope site in Chile, focused manufacturing is taking place on the telescope\u2019s critical subsystem before starting on the enclosure.<\/p>\n