Scientists on Friday began casting one of the largest telescopic mirrors ever made on Earth for the Giant Magellanic Telescope being built in Chile.
Why it matters: The large telescope is designed to one day look into the atmosphere of potentially habitable planets around distant stars, learn more about early galaxies, and study other interesting objects.
What is happening: The mirror is manufactured in Arizona by the only rotary kiln in the world designed for this type of casting.
- On Saturday, the furnace will hit a high fire, rotating at five revolutions per minute and heating the glass to about 2,129 degrees Fahrenheit for about five hours to make it liquid.
- After peaking in the heating, the glass will gradually cool down for about a month, while the oven rotates more slowly and eventually reaches room temperature about 2.5 months after major fire.
- “Once cooled, the mirror will be polished for two years before reaching an optical surface precision of less than one thousandth of the width of a human hair or five times smaller than a single coronavirus particle,” the GMT organization said. written in a press release.
What’s next: The first two mirrors of the GMT are ready and stored, while three others are still busy. The seventh – and last – mirror is scheduled to be cast in 2023.
- The team behind the telescope also plans to manufacture an eighth mirror as a reserve.
- The telescope is expected to see the first light in 2029.