Polishing the Six-Meter Mirror of Eurasia’s Biggest Telescope
Polishing the Six-Meter Mirror of Eurasia’s Biggest Telescope
Sputnik International
At the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) work is underway to polish the main mirror of the Large Altazimuth Telescope, the biggest telescope in Eurasia... 08.06.2012, Sputnik International
At the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) work is underway to polish the main mirror of the Large Altazimuth Telescope, the biggest telescope in Eurasia, its main mirror measuring six meters in diameter.
At the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) work is underway to polish the main mirror of the Large Altazimuth Telescope, the biggest telescope in Eurasia, its main mirror measuring six meters in diameter.
The BTA (Large Altazimuth Telescope) is the biggest telescope in Eurasia, its main mirror measuring six meters in diameter. It is located in the Special Astrophysical Observatory. It was the biggest telescope in the world from 1975, when it overtook the five-meter Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory, until 1993, when a ten-meter telescope was developed at the Keck Observatory.
The BTA suffers from the same problem that afflicts all other big telescopes: thermal deformation of its main mirror. Photo: an employee at the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) carrying out checks during the polishing of the main mirror of the Large Altazimuth Telescope (BTA).
If the mirror is subjected to more rapid changes in temperature than 2° per day, the resolution of the telescope falls by a factor of one and a half. Photo: an employee at the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory (LZOS) lowers the main mirror of the Large Altazimuth Telescope (BTA) to carry out interferometer measurements while it is being polished.
Opening the telescope dome when the temperature difference between the outside and inside of the tower is more than 10° is prohibited, as such drastic temperature changes can destroy the mirror.
On May 11, 2007, the first main mirror of the BTA was transported to the LZOS factory where it was manufactured so that it could undergo thorough modernization.
The telescope has now been fitted with a second main mirror. The polishing work should be completed shortly. After undergoing treatment at the Lytkarino factory, the telescope should be one of the ten most accurate in the world.
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