Critical deployment of NASA Webb's secondary mirror a success

In order to do groundbreaking science, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope must first perform an extremely choreographed series of deployments, extensions, and movements that bring the observatory to life shortly after launch. ...

Solar telescope releases first image of a sunspot

The world's largest solar observatory, the U.S. National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, just released its first image of a sunspot. Although the telescope is still in the final phases of completion, ...

Researchers showcase cylindrical mirror on iPad

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team from a women's university in Japan is developing a cylindrical mirror for use with the multi-touch iPad. The mirror could send online shoppers into new optical highs. The group, from Ochanomizu ...

Scientists create light from vacuum

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in creating light from vacuum – observing an effect first predicted over 40 years ago. The results will be published tomorrow (Wednesday) ...

NASA's new space telescope 'hunky-dory' after problems fixed

NASA's new space telescope is on the verge of completing the riskiest part of its mission—unfolding and tightening a huge sunshade—after ground controllers fixed a pair of problems, officials said Monday.

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Mirror

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection. This is different from other light-reflecting objects that do not preserve much of the original wave signal other than color and diffuse reflected light. The most familiar type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. Curved mirrors are also used, to produce magnified or diminished images or focus light or simply distort the reflected image.

Mirrors are commonly used for personal grooming or admiring oneself (in which case the archaic term looking-glass is sometimes still used), decoration, and architecture. Mirrors are also used in scientific apparatus such as telescopes and lasers, cameras, and industrial machinery. Most mirrors are designed for visible light; however, mirrors designed for other types of waves or other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are also used, especially in non-optical instruments.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA