Description
The Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey (Ariel) will be an Optical / Infrared ESA mission. It will observe ∼ 1000 exoplanets. Ariel will study the chemical composition of their atmospheres and, for a smaller group, will also study the ephemerides.
The leading Italian contribution is the construction of the telescope.
The primary mirror will be an off-axis paraboloid mirror measuring 1.2 x 0.7m.
The novelty of the telescope is that both the mirrors and the telescope structure will be entirely made of aluminum Al6061T651 and the primary mirror surface will bebare aluminum without a thick hard coating.
It is the first time that aluminum will be used to make a mirror the size of Ariel's primary.
The mirror must have a Roughness Sq lower than 10 nm RMS and a Form Error SFE lower than 80nm RMS. New processes are being studied to achieve these values on such a malleable material, particularly the Heat Treatment and Polishing of aluminum. In this Poster, I will show the latest results from mirrors representative of Ariel's primary.
