Sixth Mirror Casting Brings Giant Magellan Telescope Closer to Completion

At 3 p.m. on March 5, a gigantic furnace slowly started spinning underneath the stands of Arizona Stadium at the University of Arizona. Fire-engine red, massive in size and resembling a sci-fi version of a Dutch oven, the furnace is the only one of its kind, and its sole purpose is to produce the world’s biggest and most advanced telescope mirrors.