This has nothing to do with Hubble's first months.
The article describes how the mirrors are deliberately misshapen at normal Earth temperatures, so when they cool down to their -380F/-230C/44K operating temperature they will then (hopefully!) be in focus.
I did not know that before; I learned about it and a few other interesting facts from this article.
Clickbaity title or not, I found it an informative read.
Why would someone reading HN complain about something that should be default behavior, besides the fact it can be arranged to be toggled by one click or hotkey?
It's not "misshaped" if it's precisely the way it's meant to be. The media need to stop trading credibility for clicks, before they run out. I flagged this article, if the idea is to give HN a pretext to talk about Webb, there are plenty of better articles out there to use.
> And since materials shrink when they get cold, scientists and engineers created mirrors that were imperfect on Earth but will have the perfect shape (and come into focus) in the frigid environment of space.
I'm surprised it can be done so precisely, including predicting the relative rates at which components will cool as it journeys through space. Does anyone know something that describes the engineering and solutions involved? Does it depend on materials? Modeling? Mechanisms for adjustment after it cools?
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[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 62.7 ms ] threadThe article describes how the mirrors are deliberately misshapen at normal Earth temperatures, so when they cool down to their -380F/-230C/44K operating temperature they will then (hopefully!) be in focus.
I did not know that before; I learned about it and a few other interesting facts from this article.
Clickbaity title or not, I found it an informative read.
not to mention most readers who care at all about this new telescope probably have indeed read about the old one..
Talk about pressure to get everything right on the first try.
I'm surprised it can be done so precisely, including predicting the relative rates at which components will cool as it journeys through space. Does anyone know something that describes the engineering and solutions involved? Does it depend on materials? Modeling? Mechanisms for adjustment after it cools?