Largest tip-tilt mirror in the world | ELT Updates
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- Опубліковано 14 тра 2024
- M5, the fifth mirror on the light path of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), has reached an important milestone: its blank, the shaped piece of material that is later polished to become the mirror, has just been finalised.
It might look small compared to the ELT’s enormous 39-metre primary mirror, but in reality, it is the largest tip-tilt mirror in the world. It will move 10 times per second without bending. Together with M4 - a flexible and very fast deformable mirror - they will both correct atmospheric turbulence and telescope vibrations, delivering sharp images.
Learn more about ESO's ELT at: elt.eso.org/
Credit:
ESO
Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis
Editing: Angelos Tsaousis
Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida
Written by: Bárbara Ferreira
Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, A. Tsaousis, M. Wallner.
Music: Jon Kennedy - A Tale of Pizzicato.
Acknowledgement: Mersen-Boostec.
This video can be downloaded on: www.eso.org/public/videos/ann... - Наука та технологія
I can't fathom how much care goes into an instrument as pricise as the ELT
It's really challenging! Every component is significantly larger than in any previous telescope, but they still need to move and perform with exquisite accuracy.
Is there a reason all the biggest telescopes on Earth are alt-az mounted? Are equatorial mounts not feasible for telescopes above a certain size?
In equatorial mounts the gravity loads are more complex, since none of the axes is vertical. This makes them impractical for large and heavy telescopes whose mirrors are more than a few metres wide.
@@ESOobservatoryThanks. 👍
EQ mounts, because of their complexity, is also much more expensive. Its much simpler tracking never really justify its cost in large telescopes. Also alt-az mounts allow the telescope dome to be much more compact, further reducing the cost.