(CercleFinance.com) – Mersen announces that it has delivered to Safran Reosc the fifth and final mirror of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
The ELT, the most powerful telescope in the world, is equipped with a primary mirror 39 meters in diameter and is built in Chile at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters.
Mersen’s M5 mirror is composed of six silicon carbide (Boostec SiC) petals, coated with SiC CVD. These petals are assembled by brazing, guaranteeing a homogeneous optical surface ready for polishing. Silicon carbide, light and rigid, is crucial for correcting vibrations in the telescope structure and stabilizing images.
This mirror, measuring 2.7 meters, will be the largest tip-tilt mirror in the world, continuously correcting atmospheric disturbances.