CORNING, N.Y., April 13 --Corning Inc. announced today the delivery of a 1.8-meter ULE (ultralow expansion) mirror blank to the Pan-STARRS project being coordinated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy (IFA). The IFA is leading the effort to design and implement an astronomical survey system to search for potential earth-impacting asteroids and comets. The US Air Force Research Laboratory provides funding for this project. The mirror blank will be the primary mirror for the Pan-STARRS PS-1 telescope. The PS-1 telescope will function as the pathfinder for the primary telescope system Pan-STARRS, which will require up to four telescopes with 1.8-meter apertures assembled into an array. These telescopes will have a giant field of view that will allow them, in a single exposure, to capture an image 30-40 times the area of the full moon. The ability of the system to rapidly survey large areas of the sky makes it particularly powerful for detecting objects such as supernovae and earth-threatening asteroids. The data provided by Pan-STARRS will be used to address scientific questions such as the origin of the solar system to the properties of the universe.
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