Night after night in the dry air of Chile’s Atacama Desert, fine dust and pollutants settle on the aluminum coating of the mirrors belonging to the Very Large Telescope, part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This process degrades the mirrors’ reflectivity and clarity over time, so technicians regularly recoat and polish them to ensure the best precision. What is …
Read More »Polishing a telescope mirror to perfection photo of the day for Oct. 6, 2025
