MIRRORS

FOR LARGE
TELESCOPES
Members:
Gonzlez, Esteban
Lima, Nicols
Peralta, Jonathan
Sanchez, Lucas

INTRODUCTION
The

large telescopes are instruments

to see across the sky. The newer ones
employed complex and cunning tricks
to maintain their precision.
In the past, they were made of
speculum metal. And now, they have
been made of glass, silvered on the
front surface, so none of the optical
properties of the glass are used.

THE PROBLEM
Would

it be possible to build a mirror with

light weight, high precision, materials of
high dimensional stability and low cost?

THE MODEL
The

mirror is a circular disk with defined

diameter (2r) by the telescope design,
thickness (t), weight (m), elastic deflection
(), and specific materials.

Some

additional requirements are high

dimensional stability (no creep) and low
thermal expansion.

THE MODEL
Equations for Model
Mass:

Minimize the mass is realy important for the

construction of the mirrors and the large
Telescopes.
= 2
The deflection of the midpoint of the mirror must be
less than the wavelength of light (10). The elastic
deflection () of the center of a horizontal disk due
to its own weight is given, for material with Poisson's
ratio of 0.3

THE MODEL
Design requirements of the
telescope mirror
Function:

Precision mirror
Constraints:
-Radius R specified
-Must not distort more than under
self-weight
-High dimensional stability: no creep,
low thermal expansion
Objective: Minimize the mass, m
Free variables:
- Thickness of mirror, t
- Choice of material

THE SELECTION
We should choose among between two
fundamental properties of the materials:
-Youngs modulus E (GPa)
-Density ( 3 )

Related by the equation:

1/3
=

THE SELECTION

THE SELECTION

THE SELECTION
Polystyrene

Foam or CFRP:
Is an impractical choice but the potential costsaving is so vast that they are worth examining.
The most obvious obstacle is the lack stability of
polymers.

Glass:

Can be reinforced with carbon fibers, have the

same chemical and envoirement stability as
solid glass.

POSTSCRIPT

As

a reference, we can compare large telescopes

with radio telescopes. Radio telescopes, they
don't need optical precision, since they detect
radiation in the form of wavelength and are
much larger, but they suffer a similar
distortion due to the component materials.