Related papers: Enabling Technologies for Visible Adaptive Optics:…
The Magellan Adaptive Secondary AO system, scheduled for first light in the fall of 2011, will be able to simultaneously perform diffraction limited AO science in both the mid-IR, using the BLINC/MIRAC4 10\{mu}m camera, and in the visible…
We review astronomical results in the visible ({\lambda}<1{\mu}m) with adaptive optics. Other than a brief period in the early 1990s, there has been little astronomical science done in the visible with AO until recently. The most productive…
We review astronomical results in the visible (lambda <1 micron) with adaptive optics and note the status the MagAO system and the recent upgrade to visible camera's Simultaneous/Spectra Differential Imager (SDI to SDI+) mode. Since…
We present laboratory results of the closed-loop performance of the Magellan Adaptive Optics (AO) Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM), pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS), and VisAO visible adaptive optics camera. The Magellan AO system is a…
In addition to the BLINC/MIRAC IR science instruments, the Magellan adaptive secondary AO system will have an EEV CCD47 that can be used both for visible AO science and as a wide-field acquisition camera. The effects of atmospheric…
One important frontier for astronomical adaptive optics (AO) involves methods such as Multi-Object AO and Multi-Conjugate AO that have the potential to give a significantly larger field of view than conventional AO techniques. A second key…
MagAO is the new adaptive optics system with visible-light and infrared science cameras, located on the 6.5-m Magellan "Clay" telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. The instrument locks on natural guide stars (NGS) from…
We present the novel design, laboratory verification, and on-sky performance of our advanced triplet atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC), an important component of the Magellan Adaptive Optics system (MagAO), which recently achieved…
Adaptive optics is a technique mostly used on large telescopes. It turns out to be challenging for smaller telescopes (0.5~2m) due to the small isoplanatic angle, small subapertures and high correction speeds needed at visible wavelengths,…
Since the year 2000, adaptive optics (AO) has seen the emergence of a variety of new concepts addressing particular science needs; multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) is one of them. By correcting the atmospheric turbulence in 3D using…
Rather than using an adaptive optics (AO) system to correct a telescope s entire pupil, it can instead be used to more finely correct a smaller sub-aperture. Indeed, existing AO systems can be used to correct a sub-aperture 1/3 to 1/2 the…
The major cornerstone of future ground-based astronomy is imaging and spectroscopy at the diffraction limit using adaptive optics. To exploit the potential of current AO systems, we have begun a survey around bright stars to study…
The performance of an adaptive optics (AO) system on a 100m diameter ground based telescope working in the visible range of the spectrum is computed using an analytical approach. The target Strehl ratio of 60% is achieved at 0.5um with a…
As new large-scale astronomical surveys greatly increase the number of objects targeted and discoveries made, the requirement for efficient follow-up observations is crucial. Adaptive optics imaging, which compensates for the image-blurring…
We describe the results from a new instrument which combines Lucky Imaging and Adaptive Optics to give the first routine direct diffraction-limited imaging in the visible on a 5m telescope. With fast image selection behind the Palomar AO…
"MagAO" is the adaptive optics instrument at the Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. MagAO has a 585-actuator adaptive secondary mirror and 1000-Hz pyramid wavefront sensor, operating on natural guide stars from…
Accurate and precise measurements of the Hubble constant are critical for testing our current standard cosmological model and revealing possibly new physics. With Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, each strong gravitational lens system…
Adaptive optics (AO) have been used to correct wavefronts to achieve diffraction limited point spread functions in a broad range of optical applications, prominently ground-based astronomical telescopes operating in near infra-red. While…
The next generation of extreme adaptive optics (AO) must be calibrated exceptionally well to achieve the desired contrast for ground-based direct imaging exoplanet targets. Current wavefront sensing and control system responses deviate from…
Using an observational derived model optical turbulence profile (model-OTP) we have investigated the performance of Adaptive Optics (AO) at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), Australia. The simulations cover the performance for AO techniques…