Knowing how to decide between the various options is a daunting task for anyone considering adaptive optics. Jérôme Ballesta and his colleagues from Imagine Optic take some of the mystery out of ...

For astronomers, it’s a magical moment: you’re staring at a monitor, and a blurry image of a cosmological object sharpens up, revealing new details. We call this “closing the loop,” a reference to the ...

Yes, it can! This is one facet of adaptive optics, which astronomical observatories can use to compensate for distortions in astronomical images caused by our atmosphere. Let’s set the stage first: ...

As frustrating as having an atmosphere can be for physicists, it’s just as bad for astronomers, who have to deal with clouds, atmospheric absorption of certain wavelengths, and other irritations. One ...

Adaptive optics technology can remove the blurring effect of the Earth's atmosphere that has long plagued astronomers, allowing ground-based telescopes to achieve a clarity of vision previously ...

Adaptive optics systems utilize advanced computer control to manipulate optical components in order to improve the fidelity of optical measurements. In this project, the student will work with ...

Adaptive optics is a class of components that can be added to optical systems to improve their performance. They do this by reducing the incoming wave distortions which can arise due to natural ...

It’s sometimes easy to forget that the light in the sky is an actual star. With how reliable it is and how busy we tend to be as humans, we can take that incredible fact and stow it away and largely ...

For centuries, astronomers looking up at the heavens through a telescope had a problem on their hands – the quality of their images depended on the strength and direction of the wind in the air.

Adaptive optics is a branch of optics and photonics that uses light-controlling components to actively correct distortion in an incoming image. These distortions can occur when light from an ...

A new image released today reveals how Gemini Observatory’s most advanced adaptive optics (AO) system will help astronomers study the universe with an unprecedented level of clarity and detail by ...

The sun's corona—the outermost layer of its atmosphere, visible only during a total solar eclipse—has long intrigued scientists due to its extreme temperatures, violent eruptions, and large ...