Status of mirror segment production for the Giant Magellan Telescope

Description

The Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab at the University of Arizona is responsible for production of the eight 8.4 m segments for the primary mirror of the Giant Magellan Telescope, including one spare off-axis segment. We report on the successful casting of Segment 4, the center segment. Prior to generating the optical surface of Segment 2, we carried out a major upgrade of our 8.4 m Large Optical Generator. The upgrade includes new hardware and software to improve accuracy, safety, reliability and ease of use. We are currently carrying out an upgrade of our 8.4 m polishing machine that includes improved orbital polishing capabilities. We added and modified several components of the optical tests during the manufacture of Segment 1, and we have continued to improve the systems in preparation for Segments 2-8. We completed two projects that were prior commitments before GMT Segment 2: casting and polishing the combined primary and tertiary mirrors for the LSST, and casting and generating a 6.5 m mirror for the Tokyo Atacama Observatory.

Links & Downloads

1. H. M. Martin ; J. H. Burge ; J. M. Davis ; D. W. Kim ; J. S. Kingsley ; K. Law ; A. Loeff ; R. D. Lutz ; C. Merrill ; P. A. Strittmatter ; M. T. Tuell ; S. N. Weinberger and S. C. West " Status of mirror segment production for the Giant Magellan Telescope ", Proc. SPIE 9912, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation II, 99120V (July 22, 2016); doi:10.1117/12.2234491; http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2234491
2. 0277-786X
3. 10.1117/12.2234491
4. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622425
5. http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/622425
6. ADVANCES IN OPTICAL AND MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR TELESCOPES AND INSTRUMENTATION II

Tags

Giant Magellan Telescope

telescopes

optical fabrication

optical testing

off-axis

aspheres

Additional Fields

Identifer	oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/622425
Date	22 July 2016
Creators	Martin, H. M., Burge, J. H., Davis, J. M., Kim, D. W., Kingsley, J. S., Law, K., Loeff, A., Lutz, R. D., Merrill, C., Strittmatter, P. A., Tuell, M. T., Weinberger, S. N., West, S. C.
Contributors	Univ Arizona, Steward Observ, Univ Arizona, Ctr Opt Sci, The Univ. of Arizona (United States), College of Optical Sciences, The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), College of Optical Sciences, The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States), The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Publisher	SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING
Source Sets	University of Arizona
Language	English
Detected Language	English
Type	Article
Rights	© 2016 SPIE
Relation	http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?doi=10.1117/12.2234491