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Mountain landscape in Utah: This is where the beryllium for the telescope mirrors is extracted
Photo: Lauren Dauphin / NASA Earth Observatory
Of course we don't know how you are doing - but unfortunately our Latin and Middle High German are a little rusty.
That's why we had to read it.
In any case, the word “Brille” derives from the Middle High German “berille” and that in turn from the Latin “beryllus”.
This has to do with the fact that in the Middle Ages, among other things, the first eye glasses were cut from the hard and in its pure form colorless mineral beryl.
For a long time, people with defective vision had to make do with one glass; only later did they use two as standard, one for each eye.
That is why one also says »the glasses«, the feminine singular is based on a reinterpretation of the plural form »die berille«.
We read that too.
But why are we telling you all this now?
It has to do with the giant "James Webb" space telescope, which the participating space agencies in the USA, Canada and Europe are finally planning to launch this year.
In the area of infrared radiation, it should be significantly more sensitive than the aging »Hubble« telescope - and provide mankind with previously unimagined insights into the early history of the universe.
The main mirror by "James Webb" is made from the chemical element beryllium, the main component of the semiprecious stone beryl.
There are several good reasons for this: On the one hand, beryllium hardly changes its expansion in hot or cold conditions, on the other hand, thanks to its low density, it is very light.
In addition, the element is damn hard - and the telescope is even supposed to withstand the impact of micrometeorites on the mirror.
Mirror needs to be folded to fit inside the missile
Strictly speaking, in the case of "James Webb" too, the plural again plays an important role in beryl, just as it does in glasses.
In this specific case it is even the case that 18 beryllium mirrors were put together for the telescope.
The individual elements, coated with gold, are hexagonal and together give a total diameter of 6.5 meters.
The construct is so large that it has to be folded up for launch so that it can fit into a rocket.
Only in space is everything unfolded to its full size.
The raw material for the mirrors was won by "James Webb" in the deserted west of the US state of Utah. A current image from the American satellite "Landsat 8" shows the opencast mines on the Spor Mountains, which belong to the Thomas Range in Juab County. Here beryllium is mined in the form of the minerals bertrandite and beryl. The reason for the occurrence of the substances are the remains of volcanic eruptions 25 million years ago in the area.
According to estimates, around 85 percent of world production comes from the Spor Mountains; other important deposits exist in China and Mozambique, for example.
Nasa has also used the raw material for earlier missions, including the "Mercury" and "Gemini" space capsules.
Beryllium from Utah has also been used in the space shuttles, on the international space station, in the Mars cars "Spirit" and "Opportunity" and in the space telescope "Spitzer".
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