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primary mirror

British  

noun

  1. the mirror that collects and focuses the incoming light in a reflecting telescope

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The primary mirror, M1, is the largest mirror ever made for an optical telescope.

From BBC Aug. 19, 2024

By combining the four VLT 8.2-metre telescopes at ESO's Paranal Observatory, they can resolve details as if astronomers would employ a telescope with a primary mirror of 200 metres in diameter.

From Science Daily Jan. 8, 2024

By blocking much of the starlight, we transformed the primary mirror into an array of small collectors, allowing Keck to work much like modern radio telescopes that link many smaller antennas together.

From Scientific American Aug. 18, 2023

Last fall, the 8-meter-diameter primary mirror of the Gemini North telescope, on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, was nicked on its outer edge while being moved for cleaning and recoating.

From New York Times Apr. 18, 2023

A different type of telescope uses a concave primary mirror as its main optical element.

From Textbooks Oct. 13, 2016

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