Zenith

The goal of Zenith is to design, build and test methods by which a telescope, comprising a reflective liquid primary surface held in a light-focusing shape, may be compelled to maintain that shape even if tilted out-of-plane. These mirrors will be tiltable, scalable, damage-resilient, suitable for both space and ground telescope applications, and in monolithic and segmented designs that require no motion to operate.

The cost to build complex optics large enough to effectively resolve objects in geostationary orbit is prohibitive. Another key limitation for space-based telescopes is the escalating probability of in-orbit debris causing damage to solid lenses that cannot be repaired. Liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) may be one way to enable next-generation, very large telescopes for vastly improved space domain awareness from the ground and in space. However, today’s ground-based LMTs are zenith restricted; the delicate force balance needed to mathematically guarantee a light-focusing shape requires the rotation axis be exactly vertical. Zenith aims to leverage recent advances in materials technology, electromagnetic force control, and other innovative methods to solve this restriction, and thereby create a new generation of LMTs that can enable a wide variety of astronomy applications.

Zenith will break the paradigm of existing LMTs by imposing a key restriction: no motion to create or sustain the liquid optic surface. This will enable future space-based LMT concepts to be fielded without the additional complexity of spacecraft spin and thrust during imaging. The final phase of the program will also modify monolithic designs to include liquid mirror segmentation, and demonstrate end-to-end imaging capability with in-sky experimentation for both segmented and monolithic liquid mirrors.