To A Billionth Of A Meter: Go Inside A Telescope Mirror Factory

Beneath the University of Arizona football stadium sits the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab. 

 

There, giant mirrors are meticulously shaped and polished, to be used in telescopes around the world that are helping unravel the mysteries of the universe. The time-consuming production process requires that each mirror's surface be polished down to a billionth of a meter.