Announcements

Effect of Mirror Hatch Incident on Open Use Observations of Subaru Telescope (Report 2)

February 29, 2016

Subaru Telescope resumed the open use observations at around 7pm on February 29, 2016 (Hawaii Time) after confirming functionality of the telescope and its enclosure by late afternoon of that day. The mirror hatch (Note) was restored to its normal position as of February 27, 2016. Earlier that week, it got stuck during a scheduled maintenance work. There was no injury associated with the incident or during the recovery work.

Since one of the two panels of the mirror hatch still has its drive mechanism broken due to this incident, only one panel is operable. Thorough investigation of the damage of the mirror hatch and work towards its repair will be conducted. The work will proceed with sufficient safety measure since the safety has the utmost priority at the Subaru Telescope.


Note: Mirror hatch is on the floor of the telescope that opens to let the 8.2 m primary mirror of the Subaru Telescope go downstairs when it receives fresh recoating.


Location of the mirror hatch inside the Subaru Telescope's enclosure

Figure 1: Location of the mirror hatch inside the Subaru Telescope's enclosure. (Credit: META Corporation Japan/NAOJ)

Mirror hatch

Figure 2: Mirror hatch is restored in normal position as of February 27, 2016. (Credit: NAOJ)


Link:
Effect of Mirror Hatch Incident on Open Use Observations of Subaru Telescope (Report 1)

 

 

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