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Los primeros 18 bloques del espejo primario del ELT llegan a Safran Reosc
2 de Agosto de 2019
El primer conjunto de 18 bloques para el espejo primario del Extremely Large Telescope de ESO ha llegado de forma segura a Safran Reosc en Poitiers, Francia. Los contratos para la fabricación de los bloques de los segmentos del espejo, del pulido, montaje, y pruebas de estos, se firmaron en el 2017 con la empresa alemana SCHOTT y la empresa francesa Safran Reosc, filial de Safran Electronics & Defense.
Los bloques del espejo se empacan de a seis al interior de una caja de transporte especial de madera, y seis de estas cajas pueden caber dentro de un contenedor de transporte corriente. Sensores de choque sofisticados van junto a los bloques para medir cualquier aceleración brusca o choque que pudiese afectar a los bloques.
El contenedor de transporte con los primeros 18 bloques fue enviado desde SCHOTT en Maguncia, Alemania, el 23 de julio, y llegó a Safran Reosc al día siguiente. Los bloques del espejo del ELT están hechos de Zerodur® [1], un vidrio cerámico de baja dilatación, y son circulares, midiendo 1,5 metros de diámetro y con un espesor de 5 centímetros. La parte posterior de cada bloque es plana y la superficie frontal es cóncava. Los bloques son de 3 tipos, teniendo superficies frontales con formas ligeramente diferentes, dependiendo de la ubicación prevista del segmento en el espejo primario. Los primeros segmentos del espejo primario fueron fabricados por SCHOTT el 2018.
SCHOTT fabrica los bloques según una forma aproximada, para que Safran Reosc no tenga que remover demasiado material durante el proceso de pulido. Safran Reosc pulirá los bloques antes de que sean cortados en hexágonos y reciban un pulido final preciso usando el Ion Beam Figuring (pulido iónico).
Cuando este se complete, el espejo primario estará constituido por 798 segmentos hexagonales y tendrá un área colectora de luz de 978 m2. En total será necesario fabricar y pulir más de 900 segmentos (incluyendo un conjunto de repuesto de 133 segmentos).
Una vez construido, el ELT será el telescopio terrestre más grande en funcionamiento. El telescopio está siendo construido en Cerro Armazones en el Desierto de Atacama en el norte de Chile. Con un espejo primario de casi 40 metros de diámetro, el ELT recogerá aproximadamente 100 millones de veces más luz que el ojo humano, lo cual permitirá que los científicos aborden los mayores desafíos de la astrofísica actual, como la formación de las primeras estrellas y de las primeras galaxias, la caracterización de las atmósferas de exoplanetas como la Tierra, o la naturaleza de la materia oscura y de la energía oscura, entre muchas otras preguntas.
Notas
[1] El vidrio cerámico Zerodur®, fue desarrollado originalmente para telescopios astronómicos a finales de los años sesenta. No tiene casi dilatación térmica, lo que significa que incluso siendo sometido a grandes cambios de temperatura, el material no se expande. Químicamente, el material es muy resistente y puede ser pulido con un alto nivel de acabado. La capa reflectante, hecha de aluminio o plata, es generalmente vaporizada sobre la superficie extremadamente lisa, poco antes de que el telescopio sea puesto en marcha, y se renueva a intervalos regulares posteriormente. Muchos telescopios conocidos con espejos ZERODUR® han operado de forma fiable por décadas, incluyendo el Very Large Telescope de ESO en Chile.
Contactos
Lars Lindberg Christensen
ESO Head of Outreach Initiatives
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6761
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org
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