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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.

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