The question is: By how much is the overall resolution of such a telescope reduced in resolution by its supporting cell? At the left is the plot of the surface deformities produced in a 14" mirror with a 48" focal length that is 1.5" thick, supported by a 9 point floatation cell, and using a 2" Secondary Mirror. Here are the surface deformities of the same mirror supported by a 27 point floatation cell. which is an improvement but still has a lot of distortion.
These distortions are not the total story, as they only represent the distortions due to the floatation cell support. Superimpose the coma producing region of a Paraboloid, and fit the largest square CCD Sensor within the Coma-free Aperture, and you will get an idea of the distortions in the CCD image.
