Financial backing of an enormous mirror for the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab was obtained after the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced their commitment to the Magellan telescope project this week.

UM and MIT join the University of Arizona, Harvard and the Carnegie Institute of Washington in the project, a $65-70 million endeavor that will build two optical/infrared telescopes atop the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

Michigan's and MIT's membership means that the financial needs for the mirror have been met.

"The fact that these groups have now joined has permitted us to make a second mirror," said Peter Strittmatter, astronomy head and director of Steward Observatory.

The Carnegie Institute and UA began the Magellan project more than seven years ago, Strittmatter said. The original plan called for one telescope, but has since evolved into a dual-telescope project, he said.

The first telescope's mirror has already been cast and is awaiting polishing, said Stephen Hinman, Mirror Lab program manager. The 11.3-ton, 6.5-meter mirror is hanging in a special fixture until another mirror is finished being polished, he said.

The second mirror, for use in Magellan II, will be a "virtual carbon copy" of the Magellan I mirror, Hinman said. The lab should begin casting Magellan II sometime in mid-1997.

The Magellan telescopes will give astronomers more than twice the light-gathering power of all facilities in the southern hemisphere, Strittmatter said.

The two telescopes can combine their light for better imaging or can be used independently. Each telescope may be outfitted with different instrumentation, he said, but this detail and others will be discussed at an upcoming Magellan consortium meeting in April.

Although the Carnegie Institute is the project's financial leader, members of the Magellan consortium contribute financial aid and materials, Strittmatter said.