OSC & STEWARD OBSERVATORY PROFESSORS RESEARCH IN SKY & TELESCOPE MAGAZINE
Professor Tom Milster (OSC), Associate Professor Daewook Kim (OSC) and Professor Daniel Apai (Steward Observatory) had an article published in the November 2021 issue of Sky & Telescope, written by Javier Barbuzzano. The article, titled "Through a Lens, Brightly," details their research goals for developing large, lens-based space telescopes a reality. The new lens design combines refractive and diffractive elements and can reach several meters in diameter, while only having a miniscule thickness of around three millimeters. Previously, the world's largest refractor telescopes could be as much as 2.5 in thick at the center, meaning this work would be a game-changer for the optics technology in large telescopes.
Check out the project website for the Nautilus Space Observatory concept.