Practice Does Make Perfect

Yesterday we finally had the chance to open up the bell jar/aluminizing chamber to have a look at how the practice aluminizing went.



Once the top of the chamber was safely removed and placed on the observing floor the glass plates and slides were examined.

The crew checked the glass for any streaks or imperfections and then measured the reflectivity of the samples which check in as high at 91.75%. All-in-all it was a good test of the system. Everyone was happy with the results and the 200-inch mirror is cleared for its recoating in November.

Big thanks go out to Susan for shooting photos for me yesterday while I was off the mountain giving a talk.