RE: ATM Flexed mirrors

["Andersen, Clark R." <clanders@utmb.edu>]

This brings up the obvious question... since a flat is even easier than a
sphere to achieve (I think), could a flat-ground blank be flexed into a
parabola as well?

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Seronik [mailto:gseronik@skypub.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 11:07 PM
To: mjc5; atm@shore.net
Subject: Re: ATM Flexed mirrors

>Secondly, the ideal thickness ratio is around 1:10.  I know some people on
>this list who would regard this as a thick mirror!  At this thickness, the
>f-ratio of the mirror will govern how difficult or easy a sphere will be to
>achieve.  At any rate, it is not terribly important to achieve a perfect
>sphere. As Adler comments in the article, "any smooth, zone-free curve that
>is approximately spherical can flex into a good paraboloid."

>Regards,

>Gary