Diamond-turned lacquer-coated soft x-ray telescope mirrors

John A. Nousek, Gordon P. Garmire, Richard J. Pipetti, D. N. Burrows, K. S.K. Lum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

X-ray astronomy has reached sufficient maturity to demand at least moderate angular resolution light-gathering telescopes to accompany detector development. Keeping the cost of such telescopes within the budget of low-cost flight opportunities such as sounding rockets and SPARTAN missions is a substantial challenge. We have developed a program of precision diamond mirror turning, mechanical polishing, lacquer coating, and metal deposition which produces x-ray telescopes with minute of arc angular resolution at moderate cost. We describe the process and report calibration results for a 80 cm (31.4 in.) diam Wolter I telescope flown aboard an Aries sounding rocket.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)95-97
Number of pages3
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume830
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 9 1988

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Diamond-turned lacquer-coated soft x-ray telescope mirrors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this