Giant solar telescope mirror takes shape

Rdmag.com
June 23, 2011

When finished, the 4.2-meter mirror will be the largest telescope mirror ever pointed at the sun. Polished into a highly complex, asymmetric shape, it will be the centerpiece of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope in Hawaii, allowing researchers to study the sun in unprecedented detail.

The University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, to polish the 4.2-meter primary mirror for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, or ATST.

When operational in Hawaii, the ATST will become the world's largest solar telescope. This glass mirror will serve as the primary focusing element to create high-resolution images of the fine scale structure of the sun.

The large size and precision of the mirror will allow the telescope to provide data that helps scientists to address basic questions of solar magnetism and how its changing outputs affect the Earth. The mirror blank is being fabricated under contract with SCHOTT North America at the SCHOTT facility in Mainz, Germany.

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