Applications
The most common modern applications of the parabolic reflector are in satellite dishes, reflecting telescopes, radio telescopes, parabolic microphones, solar cookers, and many lighting devices such as spotlights, car headlights, PAR cans and LED housings.
The Olympic Flame is traditionally lit at Olympia, Greece, using a parabolic reflector concentrating sunlight, and is then transported to the venue of the Games. Parabolic mirrors are one of many shapes for a burning-glass.
Parabolic reflectors are popular for use in creating optical illusions. Display products such as the Mirage consist of two opposing parabolic mirrors, with an opening in the center of the top mirror. When an object is placed on the bottom mirror, the mirrors create a real image, which is a virtually identical copy of the original that appears in the opening. The quality of the image is dependent upon the precision of the optics. Some such illusions are manufactured to tolerances of millionths of an inch.
A parabolic reflector pointing upward can be formed by rotating a reflective liquid, like mercury, around a vertical axis. This makes the liquid mirror telescope possible. The same technique is used in rotating furnaces to make solid reflectors.
Parabolic reflectors are also a popular alternative for increasing wireless signal strength. Even with simple ones, users have reported 3 dB or more gains.
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