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The Planet Saturn with rings fairly open.

(ISNS) -- A team of French researchers has shed light on an important moment of astronomical history by testing the old lenses used by astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini when he observed a minuscule gap between two of Saturn's rings in 1675. Questions have lingered over whether it was possible to see this gap, which was later named the "Cassini Division," with the optics he had at his disposal.

http://www.insidescience.org/content/squinting-saturn-through-17th-century-technology/1412
The GMT primary mirrors are made at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab (RFCML) in Tucson, Arizona. They are a marvel of modern engineering and glassmaking; each segment is curved to a very precise shape and polished to within a few wavelengths of light - approximately one-millionth of an inch. (Image: GMTO)

Scientists at the UA's Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab are casting the third mirror in a series of seven that will be used to construct the Giant Magellan Telescope. Once completed, the telescope will be the largest in the world and have a resolution 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. The mirror will spend the next few months spinning inside a large furnace, which will heat the glass enough to melt it and then slowly cool it down.

Link to video.

 

https://www.as.arizona.edu/ua-mirror-lab-casts-third-mirror-worlds-largest-telescope-0#overlay-context=featured-articles/ua-mirror-lab-casts-third-mirror-worlds-largest-telescope
The Royal Observatory Greenwich is proud to present the winning images of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013. This free exhibition showcases some incredible images of the sky, ranging from within our solar system to far into deep space. The transit of Venus, comets, nebulae, aurorae and more can be found in the images on display.

Deep Space Photography Winner: Adam Block

Hot on the heels of the mesmerizing images of Visions of the Universe at the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory presents its annual display of the captivating winning entries from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

From all over the world entrants have captured ethereal images of the sky viewed from Earth, out to swirling nebulae in deep space. See these incredible images close-up and free, and take inspiration for your own photography and star-gazing.

Click here to visit the website.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013 - 6:00pm
Playground Bar & Lounge
278 E. Congress

Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey takes us on a tour of mirror-making and the quest to capture light from remote regions of time and space. The largest mirrors in the world are created under the football stadium at the University of Arizona, and we use them to see billions of times fainter than the human eye. Big telescopes are time machines, taking us close to the big bang, and a time when the universe was hot and dense and no stars of galaxies had yet formed. Join us for a multimedia tour of frontier technology and the limits of cosmic vision.

Click here to see the Facebook event.

http://www.confluencecenter.arizona.edu/arizona-big-glass-and-edge-universe

9/26/13 Alicia Soderberg SO/NOAO Joint Colloquium Series

Date: 
Thursday, September 26, 2013 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Room: 
SO N210

Dr. Alicia Soderberg, Harvard
"Supernova Forensics"

UA astronomer Chris Impey is teaching the UA's first massive open online class. More than 4,400 students enrolled, with about 40 percent coming from outside the United States.

University of Arizona astronomer Chris Impey has gone from teaching University students to teaching the world.
Impey, a University Distinguished Professor and deputy department head of astronomy, developed a special course, "Astronomy: State of the Art" – the University's first massive open online class, or MOOC.

http://uanews.org/story/more-than-4-400-taking-ua-astronomy-class-online
Left to Right: Rick Shnurr, Dr. Marcia Rieke, Ryan Willwater, Russell Cole, Larry Acedo, Clayton Kyle, and Shawn Iles. Absent: Doug Myers and Marcos Gonzales; photo credit Debbie Wilson

Please join us in congratulating the staff of the URIC Machining and Welding Center on being awarded a “Webbie”. What is a “Webbie” you ask? It is NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Significant Achievement Award, given to recognize “extraordinary dedication and contributions” to the JWST Project.

Over the past few years, the URIC Machining and Welding Center has been busy building various parts of JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCAM) whose PI is Steward Observatory’s Dr. Marcia Rieke. Recently, the URIC team was able to build a critical part on very short notice, and ship it to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. This saved NASA from delaying an important “vibe” test. The award is certainly a testament to the URIC team’s skill and dedication in the work that they do.

The team would like to thank Maria and her group at Steward for relying on URIC to help in this extremely important project for both the national and international astronomy community. Also they thank Marcia, Project Manager Debbie Wilson and Sr. Engineer Rick Schnurr for taking the time to present the award personally.

https://www.as.arizona.edu/ua-instrument-shop-awarded-jwst-webbie#overlay-context=
The GMT primary mirrors are made at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab (RFCML) in Tucson, Arizona. They are a marvel of modern engineering and glassmaking; each segment is curved to a very precise shape and polished to within a few wavelengths of light - approximately one-millionth of an inch. (Image: GMTO)

UA Mirror Lab Casts Third Mirror for World's Largest Telescope

 

Scientists at the UA's Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab are casting the third mirror in a series of seven that will be used to construct the Giant Magellan Telescope. Once completed, the telescope will be the largest in the world and have a resolution 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. The mirror will spend the next few months spinning inside a large furnace, which will heat the glass enough to melt it and then slowly cool it down.

Link to video.

An image of the casting taken by camera 3 inside the furnace. The GMT mirrors are considered to be the greatest astronomical optics challenge ever undertaken.

On Saturday, August 24, 2013, casting for the third mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) began inside a rotating furnace at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, the only facility in the world where mirrors of this size are being made. The GMT mirrors are considered to be the greatest astronomical optics challenge ever undertaken. Here's a short video of the inital casting of GMT3. To learn more see further details here.

http://burgundy.as.arizona.edu/pages/column8/index.html

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