Not only the James Webb Space Telescope has hexagonal mirrors

sst1m
[ Astronomický ústav AV ČR, 2022-02-18] Mirrors for the second SST-1M (Small-Sized Telescope) telescope with a primary mirror diameter of 4.3 meters designed for the detection of Cherenkov radiation are currently being installed at the Ondřej observatory. Energetic electromagnetic radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays, does not pass through the atmosphere. When a gamma photon passes through the atmosphere (as well as when a charged particle with high energy passes), a shower of secondary particles and Cherenkov radiation is produced. These sensitive telescopes with high temporal resolution can detect this Cherenkov radiation from the atmospheric shower. The sources of...

Optical system for the SST-1M, Cerenkov Gamma-ray Detection Telescope

sst1m
Two unique Cerenkov telescopes (SST-1M) are installed at the Astronomical Institute of the CAS in Ondrejov. The telescopes are designed to study gamma rays with extremely high energy coming from sources in our Galaxy or in more distant places in the Universe. This is an international project involving scientists from the CAS, Palacký University in Olomouc and teams from Switzerland and Poland. The optical design of SST-1M is based on the Dawies-Cotton optical design. The 4 m diameter mirror of the telescope is divided into 18 segments and a fully digital camera composed of 1296 pixels, each with a sampling...