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arXiv:astro-ph/9410008 (astro-ph)
[Submitted on 3 Oct 1994]

Title:Liquid Mirrors: A Review

Authors:Ermanno F. Borra
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Abstract: The surface of a spinning liquid takes the shape of a paraboloid that can be used as a reflecting mirror. This very old and nearly forgotten concept has recently been revived and I review its present status. Extensive interferometric tests of liquid mirrors (the largest one having a diameter of 2.5-meters ) show excellent optical qualities. I discuss the factors that can limit the optical quality of liquid mirrors, how to minimize them as well as the basic technology. A handful of liquid mirrors have now been built that are used for scientific work. I show representative data obtained from 2.65-m diameter liquid mirror telescopes used for astronomy and the atmospheric sciences (lidar). Section 5, of particular interest to cosmologists, or astronomers using surveys, examines the expected performance of 4-m liquid mirror telescopes dedicated to cosmological surveys. It is rather impressive, due to the fact that the instruments work full- time on four-year surveys: Spectrophotometry reaches B=24 for all objects within over 100 square degrees and wide-band photometry reaches about B=28. I consider the future of liquid mirror telescopes: limits to their sizes, engineering issues as well as speculations on lunar or space LMTs. I briefly mention the possibility of non-rotating GRIN liquid mirrors. Finally I address the issues of the field accessible to LMTs equipped with novel optical correctors. Optical design work, and some exploratory laboratory work, indicate that a single LMT should be able to access, with excellent images, small regions anywhere inside fields
Comments: to appear In Canadian Journal of Physics. 51 pages + 11 figures 5 are of which included and 6 will be sent upon request, uuencoded-compressed-Postscript, EFB90
Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
Cite as: arXiv:astro-ph/9410008
  (or arXiv:astro-ph/9410008v1 for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.astro-ph/9410008

Submission history

From: Ermanno Borra [view email]
[v1] Mon, 3 Oct 1994 22:23:36 UTC (71 KB)
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