The rare and promising Beryllium

Title

Language

English

Source

Panorama X (10) October 1958

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

REMARKABLE piece Of metal — weighing only twelve p o un d s but costing $1,700 — is being pre pared in Arizona as a possible tool for astronomers to study the sun. The substance is beryllium, one of the lightest of metals. It is in the form of a disk, about twelve inches in diame ter and two inches thick. The beryllium disk is of po tential value in astronomy be cause it may be able to face the sun and absorb its heat without getting too much out of shape to act as a light-col lecting mirror for a solar tele scope. The government-supported national science foundation is planning to set up a test tele scope at several sites in the United States and the Pacific islands as possible locations for observatories. The tentative sites thus far picked include Junipero Serra peak in Mon terey County, Calif., and the summit of volcanic Mauna Loa in Hawaii. At the foundation’s observa tory project in Arizona the disk first will be subjected to the sun’s heat and measurements made of the extent of its warp ing under thermal attack. How it behaves in this test will determine whether it may itself be ground into a mirror for one of the instruments. *7^ and A new metal may aid astro nomers in studying the sun Glass is the principal mater ial for solar as well as star telescopes. It heats up slowly and the image it reflects thus is fairly free from distortion. Beryllium heats up rapidly. But it may turn out to be good mirror material, says Dr. A. B. Meinel, observatory project di rector, because there is a po> sibility that it will throw off heat about as fast as it absorbs it. The way beryllium molecules fit together in the metal also indicates its desirability as pos sible mirror material. In addi 66 Panorama tion it is very hard, and can be ground like glass. A portable solar telescope will be set up in the near fu ture at the various tentative sites to calculate the “solar see ing.” They will be under the supervision of Leon Salanave, astronomer from the California Academy of Sciences, who re cently joined the project. The sun’s brilliance is one thing that has prevented astro nomers from solving numerous solar mysteries. That is why eclipses are valuable to observ ers. An eclipse momentarily blots out the blinding light of the sun’s face so that hot gases above its surface can be stu died. By minimizing the heating effects on mirrors the new solar telescopes will further aid as tronomers in getting around the blinding light problem, Sala nave said. Beryllium is rare because it never occurs in metallic form in nature. It always is bound with sand or other common materials. In some rock forma tions it makes beryl, a semi precious stone. Modern ore re fining methods have made it possible to produce beryllium in metal form. It is used widely in studying the nuclei of atoms. * * * Ticklish Situation The favorite animal story of the late H.T. Web ster, creator of Casper Milquetoast and “Life’s Dark est Moment,” concerned the kangaroo who suddenly leaped twelve feet over the barrier at the Bronx Park Zoo and took off in the direction of Yonkers at 80 miles an hour. A keeper dashed up to the baffled la dy who had been standing in front of the kangaroo’s cage and demanded, “What on earth did you do to that kangaroo to make him run that way?” “Nothing, really,” the lady declared. “I just tickled him a little.” “You’d better tickle me in the same place,” sug gested the keeper grimly. “I’ve got to catch him!” * October 1958 67

pages

66-67

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