Adaptive Optics at work in the globular cluster, NGC6934

NGC6934, as seen through Gemini and the University of Hawaii's Hokupa'a Adaptive Optics System.

A Road Map for the Development of Astronomical Adaptive Optics
Whitepaper

Astronomy stands poised for a rapid advance in telescope performance, surpassing by a large margin the formerly fundamental limits set by atmospheric seeing. This paper, which was prepared by an ad hoc but broadly-based team of community experts, presents a road map for the development of the key enabling technology-adaptive optics (AO). The road map summarizes and prioritizes required developments in lasers, deformable mirrors, and rapid-readout detectors; in atmospheric tomography and multi-conjugate AO; and in software to model the performance of the atmosphere and the corresponding response of AO systems. The long term goal is to address the formidable challenges of providing AO systems for next generation 30- to 100-m telescopes.



Adaptive Optics Whitepaper (131 K PDF file)


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Posted: 06Sept2000		 AURA logo NSF logo NOAO Copyright
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