References

On the Canary Island of La Palma, scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Physics in Munich (Germany) have erected a new type of telescope for the study of cosmic gamma radiation. With a diameter of 17 m each, these two telescopes are is the greatest of their kind in the world.

MAGIC telescope I consists of 1,000 diamond-cut aluminium refractor facets, each sized 50 x 50 cm. Four refractor facets are set on each selectively controllable panel.

In close cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Physics, MERO developed the ultra-light space frame structure of MERO ball nodes and beams made of carbon fibre material supporting the refractor. The four layer space frame structure has a total height of approx. 4.4 m.

With a grid of 1.0 x 1.0 m, the top layer of the space frame system corresponds to the geometrical dimensions of the refractor panels. During the fabrication of the beams, the cones were cemented to the ends of the carbon tubes in a special process. Numerous tests were performed in the MERO laboratories in order to study the load bearing performance of the carbon beams and bonded joints.