Paper 14145-12
Paper 14145-12
Making the primary mirror for the Ariel Telescope
5 July 2026 • 14:10 - 14:30 CEST | Room B4-M3
Abstract
The Ariel telescope consists of a primary parabolic mirror (M1), followed by a hyperbolic secondary (M2), a parabolic re-collimating tertiary (M3) and a flat folding mirror (M4). Media Lario is the industrial enabler in charge of the manufacturing development of the M1 mirror; made of aluminium 6061-T651, the M1 is an off-axis parabola with a big elliptical aperture having about 1.1 m major axis and 0.75 m minor axis. Among the manufacturing processes, diamond turning is the baseline process to produce the off-axis shape, followed by deterministic polishing in Media Lario and finally coated with protected silver coating by CILAS (France). The results of the development models of the M1 mirror are presented and discussed in this paper.
Presenter
Media Lario S.r.l. (Italy)
Dr. Dervis Vernani is working since 2004 in the frame of space and ground based opto-electronic instruments for astronomy, with initiatives sponsored by international institutes and agencies (eROSITA, MAGIC, EarthCare, IXV, ExoMars/TGO, ExoMars/Rover, Einstein Probe, ARIEL). He received his Ph.D in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2011, developing optics for high energy astrophysics. His research experience started at the Brera Astronomical Observatory of the Italian national institute of astrophysics (INAF-OAB) and continued at Media Lario Srl and Thales Alenia Space Switzerland within projects related to high energy astronomy.
Dervis Vernani is currently working at Media Lario and oversees the astronomy projects portfolio of the company, managing the development of the mirrors for the ARIEL telescope.