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Q:
What is the aperture size, the resolution, and the reflector
material of Chandra's mirrors?
A:
 Chandra mirrors use grazing incidence
reflections to focus X-rays, so the mirrors are barrel-shaped
rather than dish-shaped. Chandra's mirror assembly consists of a
nested array of four mirror pairs (Two reflections are required
to make an image). The largest mirror has an outer diameter of 4
feet (1.2 m). The effective area of the mirror assembly ranges
from about 800 square cm at wavelengths longer than 6 Angstroms
down to 40 square cm at the shortest wavelengths.
The resolution of the mirrors is one-half arc second.
The mirrors are coated with iridium.
Find
out more about Chandra's specifications
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