“To detect fainter and more distant objects in the cosmos, astronomers need bigger telescopes. And bigger telescopes – several of which are currently under construction around the world – rely on ever bigger mirrors to collect that incoming starlight. The University of Arizona’s Buddy Martin and Dae Wook Kim describe how they engineer these gargantuan mirrors with painstaking precision. Imperfections are not tolerated: if one of their 27-foot mirrors were scaled up to the size of North America, the tallest mountain would be one inch high and the deepest canyon would be one inch low.”
Maggie Villiger
Editor
The Conversation US