The eye of mercury

David Jones

Nature, 1998, vol. 392, issue 6676, 554-554

Abstract: The mirrors of large telescopes require adaptive optical systems to correct the distortion stemming from atmospheric fluctuations and the flexing of the mirrors under their own weight. Daedalus is now working on a really adaptive, liquid mirror using mercury. His proposal is to employ an array of electrodes set in a large dish of mercury, and a set of coils by which a complex magnetic field can be imposed on the mercury. The result — forces that will produce hydrostatic pressure in the liquid and allow its surface to be shaped to order.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/33296

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