Collaborate Disseminate
The James Webb Space Telescope’s array of eighteen hexagonal mirrors went through an intricate (and lengthy) alignment and calibration process before it could begin its mission — but the process …read more Continue reading The Constant Monitoring and Work That Goes into JWST’s Optics
Looks like there’s trouble out at L2, where the James Webb Space Telescope suffered a mechanical anomaly back in August. The issue, which was just announced this week, involves only …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: September 25, 2022
The folks at NASA are taking a well-deserved victory lap this week after the splashy reveal of the first scientific images from the James Webb Space Telescope. As we expected, …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: July 17, 2022
“Don’t worry, that’ll buff right out.” Alarming news this week as the James Webb Space Telescope team announced that a meteoroid had hit the space observatory’s massive primary mirror. While …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: June 12, 2022
The Giant Magellan Telescope doesn’t seem so giant in the renderings, until you see how the mirrors are made.
The telescope will require seven total mirrors each 27 feet (8.4 meters) in diameter for a total combined diameter of 24.5 meters. Half of an Olympic size pool’s length. A little over four times the diameter of the James Webb Space Telescope.
According to the website, the mirrors are cast at the University of Arizona mirror lab and take four years each to make. They’re made from blocks of Japanese glass laid out in a giant oven. The whole process of …read more
Continue reading A Giant Magellan Telescope Needs Giant Mirrors