ESOcast 15: Recoating a Giant VLT Mirror

Every night, all year round, the ESO Very Large Telescope, or VLT, opens its four giant eyes to scrutinise the beautiful southern skies. Each eye is a huge mirror, 8.2 metres in diameter, that gathers the light of the night sky, and reflects it into optical systems that form ultra-sharp images of the Universe. But keeping the VLT´s eyes clear requires each mirror to be cleaned and recoated occasionally, a delicate and complex procedure. This video in high-definition is available on: www.eso.org/public/videos/esoc...
Credit:
ESO. Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser and Luis Calçada. Cinematography: Peter Rixner. Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Lars Holm Nielsen and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Herbert Zodet, Henri Boffin and Eric Hal Schwartz. Host: Dr. J. Narration: Gaitee Hussain. Music: Movetwo. Footage and photos: ESO. Directed by: Herbert Zodet. Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen.

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

Impressionante toda a minúcia ..para que tudo esteja pronto e o VLT nos continue a surpreender reflectindo no espelho o deslumbre do Universo!!

[@Steaphany]

I never realized the amount of work and infrastructure that needs to be in place to support a large astronomical observatory

[@rodgod82]

Spacerip and ESOcast are my favorite channels.
Continue the good work guys!

[@oscarlithgow]

Impresive work for the people of ESO...

[@DriesDriessens]

What is the interval time between recoating jobs? The clip mentions regularly, but how often is that?

[@hamedjafarnezhad6058]

Hello, can I know that where is position of Glow discharge cleaning on the vacuum chamber? do you have any industrial drawing?

[@oscarlithgow]

What is the cost of recoating one of thoe's mirrors?? O.O

[@ScienceAround]

Guy who cleans reflective surface manually wears glasses. I imagine how one day they will fall down and scratch the mirror :)