We present a design for large rotating liquid mirrors. These mirrors are stiff light-weight structures designed to support a thin reflective mercury surface layer. The general design features and fabrication techniques are described and approximate analytic formulae are derived describing the flexural, vibrational and stability characteristics of these mirrors. As an example, we describe in detail the 2.7-meter mirror of the UBC/Laval liquid mirror observatory. We conclude by considering the feasibility of employing this design for very large liquid mirrors.
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Hickson et al. (1993) studied this question.
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