Abstract
The two primary mirrors for the Large Binocular Telescope are the largest mirrors ever made. Lightweight honeycomb mirrors 8.4 m in diameter and f/1.14, they present a number of challenges in fabrication and testing. Both mirrors have been cast in a spinning furnace at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab. The first has been generated, and is currently being polished with a 1.2 m diameter stressed lap that bends to match the varying curvature of the mirror surface. The primary mirrors are matched with adaptive secondary mirrors to provide diffraction-limited imaging.
© 2002 Optical Society of America
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