Scientists on Friday began launching one of the largest telescope mirrors ever made on Earth for the giant Magellanic telescope being built in Chile.
Why it’s important: The huge telescope is designed to one day look at the atmospheres of potentially habitable planets around distant stars, learn more about early galaxies, and study other objects of interest.
What is happening: The mirror is made in Arizona using the world’s only spinning furnace designed for this type of casting.
- On Saturday, the oven will collide with “high heat,” spinning at five revolutions per minute and heating the glass to 2,129 degrees Fahrenheit for about five hours to liquefy it.
- After this heating peak, the glass will gradually cool for about a month as the furnace rotates more slowly, finally reaching room temperature. about 2.5 months after the big fire.
- “Once cooled, the mirror will be polished for two years before achieving an optical surface accuracy less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair or five times less than a single particle of coronavirus,” he wrote. the GMT organization in a press release.
What follows: The first two GMT mirrors are ready and stored, with three more still in process. The seventh – and last – the mirror is scheduled to launch in 2023.
- The team behind the telescope also plans to make an eighth mirror as a spare.
- The telescope is expected to see its first light in 2029.