Liquid mirrors are used in future telescopes
The US company DARPA intends to develop and manufacture liquid mirrors to replace optical glass or beryllium mirrors in next-generation telescopes through the Zenith program.
The advantages of liquid-mirror telescopes are many, but manufacturing them is still a difficult task. The Zenith team aims to overcome many of the shortcomings inherent in liquid mirror telescopes and build larger, more capable, and less expensive telescopes in the near future.
DARPA developed Project Zenith, a four-year program, to design and develop liquid mirrors for future telescopes. The goal is to use liquid mirror technology as an alternative to glass or beryllium optics, which are used to make mirrors in modern ground-based and space-based telescopes.
It’s Not Sci-Fi—NASA Is Funding These Mind-Blowing Projects: The space agency gave money to researchers working on liquid telescope mirrors, a lunar oxygen pipeline, and Martian building blocks made of fungi. https://t.co/NM57Wx3LAV pic.twitter.com/LyhQcdaK2l
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Liquid mirror telescopes operate on the physical principle that the surface of a liquid can form a parabola, which is ideal for focusing light.
It has been around for many years, but significant technical limitations prevent its use. However, as the costs of building and maintaining increasingly complex “traditional” optics become prohibitive, the idea of applying liquid mirrors certainly makes sense.
How do liquid reflecting telescopes work?
The principle of operation of telescopes is basically the same as that of a reflecting telescope, with the only difference being that the mirror in this case consists of a liquid substance. The main feature is that shaping the glass to form a parabolic mirror requires laborious and expensive processing. On the other hand, the fluid in rotation naturally takes the form of a parabola due to a combination of gravity and centrifugal force.
Mercury is used as a liquid – the most reflective substance of all that exists. The Zenith Large Telescope in Canada contains a liquid mirror containing 28 liters of mercury in a bowl that rotates every eight and a half seconds.
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