Related papers: The numerical simulation tool for the MAORY multic…
With the commissioning of the refurbished adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) for the 6.5-meter MMT Observatory under way, special consideration had to be made to properly calibrate the mirror response functions to generate an interaction…
The EAGLE and EVE Phase A studies for instruments for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) originated from related top-level scientific questions, but employed different (yet complementary) methods to deliver the required…
We report on our ongoing efforts to ensure that the MICADO NIR imager reaches differential absolute (often abbreviated: relative) astrometric performance limited by the SNR of typical observations. The exceptional 39m diameter collecting…
Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) combines the advantages of standard adaptive optics, which provides high contrast and high spatial resolution, and of wide field ~1' imaging. Up to recently, MCAO for astronomy was limited to…
The next generation ground-based telescopes rely heavily on adaptive optics for overcoming the limitation of atmospheric turbulence. In the future adaptive optics modalities, like multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), atmospheric…
The Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator, MAD, successfully demonstrated on sky the MCAO technique both in Layer Oriented and Star Oriented modes. As results of the Guaranteed Time Observations in Layer Oriented mode quality…
The first on-sky results obtained by CANARY, the Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) demonstrator, are analysed. The data were recorded at the William Herschel Telescope, at the end of September 2010. We describe the command and…
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…
Adaptive optics systems are essential on all large telescopes where image quality is important. These are complex systems with many design parameters requiring optimisation before good performance can be achieved. The simulation of adaptive…
Multi-conjugated adaptive optics (MCAO) yield nearly diffraction-limited images at 2$\mu$m wavelengths. Currently, GeMS/GSAOI at Gemini South is the only MCAO facility instrument at an 8m telescope. Using real data and for the first time,…
The Multiconjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) has successfully demonstrated on sky both Star Oriented (SO) and Layer Oriented (LO) multiconjugate adaptive optics techniques. While SO has been realized using 3 Shack-Hartmann…
Imaging faint objects, such as exoplanets or disks, around nearby stars is extremely challenging because host star images are dominated by the telescope diffraction pattern. Using a coronagraph is an efficient solution for removing…
The optical design of the Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics Relay for the Extremely Large Telescope experienced many modifications since Phase A conclusion in late 2009. These modifications were due to the evolution of the telescope design,…
We discuss a layer-oriented approach to multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) in solar imaging. The technique is a complement to the current star-oriented MCAO and appears as a necessary alternative when large field sizes are desired in…
MagAO-X is the extreme coronagraphic adaptive optics (AO) instrument for the 6.5-meter Magellan Clay telescope and is currently undergoing a comprehensive batch of upgrades. One innovation that the instrument features is a deformable mirror…
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…
Multi-object astronomical adaptive-optics (MOAO) is now a mature wide-field observation mode to enlarge the adaptive-optics-corrected field in a few specific locations over tens of arc-minutes. The work-scope provided by open-loop…
Adaptive optics systems require a calibration procedure to operate, whether in closed loop or even more importantly in forward control. This calibration usually takes the form of an interaction matrix and is a measure of the response on the…
The ELT is a 39m large, ground-based optical and near- to mid-infrared telescope under construction in the Chilean Atacama desert. Operation is planned to start around the middle of the next decade. All first light instruments will come…
We propose a many-core CPU architecture for Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) scale adaptive optics (AO) real-time control (RTC) for the multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) and laser-tomographic AO (LTAO) modes. MCAO and LTAO differ from the more…