Adaptive Optics Bench design for Gemini North Telescope (IMAGE)
Caption
The image shows an opto-mechanical design model for the Adaptive Optics Bench (AOB). Adaptive optics is a process where the effects of the Earth's turbulent atmosphere are corrected optically.
In the picture the white beam is the light coming from the telescope (from the top left) - the wavefront of this beam is distorted by the atmosphere. The green beam is the measurement system - here a wavefront sensor is used to accurately measure the exact shape of the wavefront. The red beam is the corrected beam - here a deformable mirror (which has a shape that can be varied), has been used to correct the distortion (ie flatten the wavefront). The corrected light exits (middle left) and goes to back to the telescope.
Because the light is corrected it has higher resolution (can see sharper images with more detail) and greater sensitivity (can see fainter and more distant objects).
Credit
Australian Astronomical Optics – Macquarie University
Usage Restrictions
For editorial use only
License
Original content