Mededeling
De blanco M5-spiegel van de ELT is klaar
15 mei 2024
M5, de vijfde spiegel in de lichtweg van ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), heeft een belangrijke mijlpaal bereikt: zijn blanco vorm – het voorgevormde materiaal dat later tot spiegel wordt gepolijst – is zojuist voltooid. De ELT zal in totaal vijf spiegels hebben en M5 is de kleinste daarvan. De constructie van de spiegel was echter allesbehalve een kleinigheid. Het Franse bedrijf Mersen Boostec heeft dit bijzondere onderdeel vervaardigd in zijn faciliteiten in de buurt van Tarbes, in het zuidwesten van Frankrijk.
M5 is een vlakke, elliptische spiegel van 2,7 bij 2,2 meter, opgebouwd uit zes aan elkaar gesoldeerde segmenten. Het lijkt misschien niet veel in vergelijking met de enorme ELT-hoofdspiegel van 39 meter, maar in werkelijkheid is het de grootste langs twee assen kantelbare spiegel ter wereld.
Samen met M4 is M5 een cruciaal onderdeel van het adaptieve optische systeem van de ELT: dankzij hun unieke samenspel kan de ELT extreem scherpe opnamen maken, waarbij verstoringen die worden veroorzaakt door telescoop-mechanismen, windvibraties en atmosferische turbulentie worden gecompenseerd. Om de opnamen te stabiliseren, past M5 zijn positie tien keer per seconde aan, zonder te buigen.
Voor deze uitdaging moest Mersen Boostec de blanco M5-spiegel van heel speciaal materiaal vervaardigen: siliciumcarbide, dat tegelijkertijd heel stijf en heel licht is. Daarbovenop werd – atoom voor atoom – een dunne laag siliciumcarbide aangebracht, zodat het oppervlak van de blanco vorm gepolijst kan worden met een nauwkeurigheid van minder dan een honderdste van de dikte van een menselijke haar.
Het Franse bedrijf Safran Reosc, dat de blanco spiegel heeft ontvangen, zal deze inspecteren en later integreren met diens draagconstructie, de geassembleerde blanco spiegel polijsten en de apparatuur leveren die nodig is voor zijn afwerking, transport, bediening en onderhoud. Het Spaanse bedrijf SENER Aeroespacial ontwerpt, bouwt en verifieert het ondersteuningssysteem, het besturingssysteem en hulpapparatuur.
ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, ’s werelds grootste oog op de hemel, is klaar om de meest diepgaande astronomische uitdagingen van onze tijd aan te gaan en belooft, zodra hij later dit decennium zijn eerste licht opvangt, baanbrekende ontdekkingen te zullen doen. De constructie van de afzonderlijke componenten, zoals de M5, vergt het uiterste van de technologie.
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Contact
Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Duitsland
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: press@eso.org
Over de Mededeling
| Id: | ann24008 |
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