What kind of glass is used for telescope mirrors?
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What kind of glass is used for telescope mirrors?
Types of glass such as window glass, BK7 or Pyrex are commonly used in telescopes manufactured in large batches. Zerodur, a development by Schott, is relatively expensive and so is rarely used.
How do you polish a mirror on a telescope?
Put the mirror face-up onthe towel, and with the drain open, blast the mirror’s surface with room-temperature water for a few minutes. This will remove most dust and grit safely. From left to right: The safest way to remove grit from a telescope mirror is to blast the surface with tap water.
Can you make your own telescope mirror?
Even though some builders prefer to buy commercial mirrors and fit them in a DIY structure, I believe that making a telescope mirror is probably the most rewarding part of the whole built. Starting from a rough glass blank, you can obtain an almost perfect parabola with surface errors in the range of 20 to 60 nm.
Can you use a makeup mirror for a telescope?
As others have already stated – Yes you can… I used a shaving mirror many years ago (in the daytime), just out of curiosity to see how well it would work. I used simple magnifying glasses for the eyepieces. the secondary was a prism out of an old pair of binoculars.
What are telescope mirrors made out of?
The primary mirror in most modern telescopes is composed of a solid glass cylinder whose front surface has been ground to a spherical or parabolic shape. A thin layer of aluminum is vacuum deposited onto the mirror, forming a highly reflective first surface mirror.
Can you make a telescope with a shaving mirror?
Can you make a telescope with flat mirrors?
A refractor employs lenses at both ends while a reflector uses a curved mirror at one end and a flat mirror at the other. It Is virtually impossible for an ordinary person to make his own lenses for a refracting telescope; but if you can get some lenses, perhaps from a war—surplus store, you can make a small telescope.
Can you make a telescope mirror?
Making a telescope mirror. To start, a new mirror blank is “sanded” down to create a precise parabolic curve in a process called grinding. To do that, the blank is paired with a device called a grinding tool, usually made of glass, plaster, or ceramic.
What is a telescope mirror called?
A primary mirror (or primary) is the principal light-gathering surface (the objective) of a reflecting telescope.
