The Giant Magellan Telescope begins the four-year process to fabricate and polish its seventh and final primary mirror, the last required to complete the telescope’s 368 square meter light collecting ...

Mirrors are a critical part of any space telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope’s mirrors are made of a special element that will enable it to withstand the rigors of space and see farther back ...

The University of Arizona Steward Observatory Mirror Lab’s casting of the first mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) “appears to be essentially perfect,” UA Steward Observatory Director Peter ...

Straight to the dome.

Space rarely gives up its secrets easily. For instance, what looks like a single ...

Under the east grandstands of Arizona Stadium, University of Arizona scientists have been working for nearly 20 years to make huge mirrors for the world’s most powerful optical telescope. And though ...

NASA opened a golden eye on the cosmos Saturday. The James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most complex of its kind, successfully completed its final deployment stage by opening its 21-foot gold ...

The James Webb Space Telescope is not just a remarkable feat of engineering; it’s a beautiful one too. Take its 18 hexagonal mirrors made from gold-plated beryllium, which inspired YouTube’s Cellar ...

Researchers have developed a new way to use femtosecond laser pulses to fabricate the high-precision ultrathin mirrors required for high-performance x-ray telescopes. The technique could help improve ...

Mike Every knows about grinding glass—and he doesn’t like it. The second-year physics major from Saugerties, N.Y., is an amateur telescope maker with an idea for producing lightweight mirrors out of ...

'It could make lightweight mirrors that are 15 or 20 meters in diameter a reality.' When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Breaking ...