Thin shell mirror for ESO’s Very Large Telescope Adaptive Optics Facility

A remarkable thin-shell mirror created by SAGEM (France) for the Very Large Telescope Adaptive Optics Facility is seen hanging under a special support system. The shell is 1120 millimetres across but just 2 millimetres thick, making it much thinner than most glass windows. The mirror has to be thin enough to act almost like a flexible film. When installed in the telescope the shape of its reflective surface will be constantly changed by tiny amounts to correct for the blurring effects of the Earth’s atmosphere and create much sharper images.