Second adaptive thin shell mirror delivered to ESO

A second shell mirror of remarkable quality has been delivered to ESO by Safran–Reosc. This is an improved version of an earlier shell mirror delivered in late 2011. Both mirrors are a mere 2 millimetres thin but 1.12 metres in diameter, and will be crucial for the upgrade of Unit Telescope 4 of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to a fully adaptive system. A thin shell mirror is deformed several thousand times per second to compensate for turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. The result is a much sharper image, allowing astronomers to study the Universe in greater detail than possible before.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:ann14010a
Type:Photographic
Release date:4 February 2014, 15:00
Related announcements:ann14010
Size:3501 x 2779 px

About the Object

Type:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory
Category:Paranal

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.5 MB
Screensize JPEG
190.4 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
230.7 KB
1280x1024
346.5 KB
1600x1200
459.4 KB
1920x1200
490.7 KB
2048x1536
673.8 KB