Work for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) began this week

The University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab began work on the sixth of seven primary mirror segments for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) this week. On March 1st, the lab started heating its one-of-a-kind glass furnace to a temperature of 1,165 degrees Celsius which in itself was a major milestone in a manufacturing process known as spin-casting. It took about four months to make the mold and another nine hours to cover it in nearly 90 tons of rare borosilicate glass.

The combination of heat and motion will force the glass up the mold’s sides as it melts, causing it to form a curved surface. Once the 8.4-meter mirror is cast over the weekend, it will enter a month-long “annealing” process that will see the furnace slowly come to a stop while the glass cools. That’s done so that the mirror cools uniformly, making the final product tough and free of as many imperfections as possible. It will take another month-and-a-half for it to cool to room temperature. It’s at that point that the lengthy process of polishing it can begin.

Manufacturing a single glass segment takes about four years to complete. In 2019, the university finished work on GMT’s second mirror. That one is now in storage, waiting to be transported to Chile. While the project broke ground in 2015, it won’t be complete until later in the decade. But once it is done, the GMT will be able to capture images that are 10 times clearer than those produced by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Also Read: AMD GPU’s market share is sharply declining, which is a matter of concern for the makers

More from author

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Looking for Great Deals ? Click Here

Related posts

Latest posts

“Is Bitcoin banned in India?” All you need to know about the Crypto Currency Bill

With the declaration of the introduction of the cryptocurrency bill by the central government of India, everyone has been wondering if it's finally the...

Brain games for android on play store: A brief overview

Mind games demonstrate a very unique concept for improving the human brain and It has become a necessity for the present time as well....

How to Have the Perfect At-Home Concert

For anyone who loves music and attending concerts, the pandemic acted as an eye-opener. Artists canceled world tours and concerts. Everyone had to stay...