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Liquid mirrors: a progress report. Hickson, Paul

Abstract

Since liquid mirrors are potentially useful in science (e.g., astronomy, atmospheric sciences, and optical testing), work has been undertaken to determine whether they are technologically feasible. A testing tower has been equipped with a scatterplate interferometer interfaced with a CCD for data acquisition and a microcomputer for data analysis. This equipment was used to test a 1.5-m-diameter f/2 liquid mirror, showing that it is diffraction limited; interferometric measurements give Strehl ratios of order 0.8. A 2.7-m-diameter liquid mirror and astronomical observatory presently under construction is briefly described. Copyright 1990 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.

Item Metadata

Title
Liquid mirrors: a progress report.
Creator
Hickson, Paul
Publisher
Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Date Issued
1990
Description
Since liquid mirrors are potentially useful in science (e.g., astronomy, atmospheric sciences, and optical testing), work has been undertaken to determine whether they are technologically feasible. A testing tower has been equipped with a scatterplate interferometer interfaced with a CCD for data acquisition and a microcomputer for data analysis. This equipment was used to test a 1.5-m-diameter f/2 liquid mirror, showing that it is diffraction limited; interferometric measurements give Strehl ratios of order 0.8. A 2.7-m-diameter liquid mirror and astronomical observatory presently under construction is briefly described. Copyright 1990 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
Genre
Conference Paper
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2011-09-20
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0107603
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37493
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Physics and Astronomy, Department of
Citation
Borra, Ermanno F.; Content, Robert; Drinkwater, Mark R.; Girard, Luc; Tremblay, Louise; Szapiel, Stan; Gibson, Brad K.; Hickson, Paul; Morbey, Christopher L. Liquid mirrors: a progress report. Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes IV, edited by Lawrence D. Barr. Proceedings of SPIE Volume 1236, 653, 1990.
Publisher DOI
10.1117/12.19199
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Copyright Holder
Hickson, Paul
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International