Prof Brad Gibson – Liquid Mirror Telescopes: The Wave of the Future or Just a Ripple?

Prof Brad Gibson returns once again to fill a void with another fascinating lecture… this time, the topic du jour will be Liquid Mirror Telescopes: The Wave of the Future or Just a Ripple?

First described by Capocci in 1850 and published by Skey in 1872, LMTs became a serious reality with the UBC/Laval 2.7m liquid mirror telescope (LMT) in 1994, designed and built by Brad & his team.

Spin a pool of liquid and its surface curves into a parabolic shape – by coincidence, exactly the shape needed for a telescope mirror to focus light. Using a reflective liquid like mercury (or other low melt alloys, such as gallium or indium, and more recently ionic liquids), a telescope mirror can be made quickly and relatively inexpensively vs the usual mirror-making methods… join Brad and WADAS for a deep dive into the history and future of LMTs.

Image: NASA/Photo by Guy Plante (Laval University) – The 3.7-meter diameter LMT at Laval University in Quebec.