TNO provides mirror technology to the largest solar telescope in Europe

TNO provides mirror technology to the largest solar telescope in Europe

The TNO will be a core part of the European Solar Telescope (he is) Develop. The telescope is being built in the Canary Islands. Scientists want to use it to find the sun. The TNO technique relates to the adaptive secondary mirror (ASM). It can quickly change shape. In this way, the distorted effect of the atmosphere on telescope images can be corrected. In this way, scientists get a detailed picture of the sun.

Thanks to the strong magnetic fields and complex atmospheric dynamics, the sun has a huge influence on modern technology such as satellites, airplanes, Global Positioning System (GPS) and more. If scientists can properly understand and predict the sun’s ever-changing dynamics, they can help ensure that this biotechnology is not disrupted or destroyed.

Ten times more efficient

“We’ve really reinvented the distorted mirror,” said Matthew Maniscalco, one of the scientists involved in the project. The TNO design is actually attached to the mirror. It is balanced with spring, electromagnetic coils and static magnets. Current technology for these motors is brittle, inefficient in energy use, and difficult to control. The innovative new design makes the drives accurate, robust and predictable and consumes far less power than the best drives to date.

“The TNO drive system is ten times more efficient than conventional systems, yet it is extremely accurate and effective. The TNO ASM can be precisely tuned to the nanometer scale and provide the most accurate images of the sun possible. This is at a lower cost compared to current technology.”

TNO will cooperate with VDL ETG To build drives.TNO innovation provides industrial and production opportunities for precision companies like VDL, ”says Hans Brim, Business Director at VDL ETG.“ We look forward to being involved in developing, manufacturing and commercializing this exciting innovation. ”

See also  Thread Henk Noreen: "It's Surprising That Our World Doesn't Use Science"

“We think our technology can also be used to adapt large, old telescopes,” says Maniscalco. If this project succeeds, the adaptive secondary mirror technology will greatly improve the existing fixed secondary mirrors in the world’s primary telescopes such as Keck, Gemini and TMT. “

The project is funded in part by and led by the European Union Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC).

Also interesting: TNO provides an optical module for the Sentinel-5 space mission

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *