Astrophysics (Index)About

mirror support cell

(mirror cell)
(units in a telescope that support the mirror)

A mirror support cell in a reflector telescope is the frame that holds the mirror. In a large telescope, it may include mechanisms to align the segments of a segmented mirror, or to apply additional forces to counteract gravity's distorting force of a large (massive) mirror or mirror segment that occurs when the telescope's aim is changed, because mirrors and supports cannot be perfectly rigid.


(telescopes,reflector,equipment)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_support_cell
https://websites.umich.edu/~lowbrows/reflections/2009/tryan.19.html
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-04352/

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