Related papers: ARGOS at the LBT. Binocular laser guided ground la…
The current direct observations of brown dwarfs and exoplanets have been obtained using instruments not specifically designed for overcoming the large contrast ratio between the host star and any wide-separation faint companions. However,…
LINC-NIRVANA (LN) is one of the instruments on-board the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). LN is a high-resolution, near-infrared imager equipped with an advanced adaptive optics module. LN implements layer-oriented Multi-Conjugate Adaptive…
In order to increase the corrected field of view of an adaptive optics (AO) system, several deformable mirrors (DM) have to be placed in the conjugate planes of the dominant turbulent layers (multi-conjugate adaptive optics, MCAO [Beckers…
The optimal performance of adaptive optics systems can only be maintained if the wavefront reference is bright and compact. Experience has shown that both of these important criteria are remarkably difficult to achieve with laser guide…
The sodium laser guide star adaptive optics system ALFA has been constructed at the Calar Alto 3.5-m telescope. Following the first detection of the laser beacon on the wavefront sensor in 1997 the system is now being optimized for best…
Adaptive optical correction is an efficient technique to obtain high-resolution images of the retinal surface. A main limitation of adaptive optical correction, however, is the small size of the corrected image. For medical purposes it is…
The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a powerful new instrument being built to facility-class standards for the Gemini telescope. It takes advantage of the latest developments in adaptive optics and integral field…
The calibration procedures for data collected for Argus and the 4mm Receiver instruments on the GBT are presented. The measured beam size, aperture efficiency, and main-beam efficiency are derived for the range of observing frequencies…
The SOUL systems at the Large Bincoular Telescope can be seen such as precursor for the ELT SCAO systems, combining together key technologies such as EMCCD, Pyramid WFS and adaptive telescopes. After the first light of the first upgraded…
Adaptive optics (AO) instruments for the future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) are characterized by advanced optical systems with diffraction-limited optical quality. Low geometric distortion is also crucial for high accuracy astrometric…
The Latin American Giant Observatory (LAGO) is an extended cosmic ray observatory composed of a network of water-Cherenkov detectors (WCD) spanning over different sites located at significantly different altitudes (from sea level up to more…
We demonstrate the potential of new adaptive optical technology to expand the detection horizon of gravitational-wave observatories. Achieving greater quantum-noise-limited sensitivity to spacetime strain hinges on achieving higher…
A multi-object spectrograph on the forthcoming European Extremely Large Telescope will be required to operate with good sky coverage. Many of the interesting deep cosmological fields were deliberately chosen to be free of bright foreground…
The development of adaptive optics (AO) played a major role in modern astronomy over the last three decades. By compensating for the atmospheric turbulence, these systems enable to reach the diffraction limit on large telescopes. In this…
The Latin American Giant Observatory (LAGO) is a distributed cosmic ray observatory at a regional scale in Latin America, by deploying a large network of Water Cherenkov detectors (WCD) and other astroparticle detectors in a wide range of…
The range to which the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) can observe astrophysical systems varies over time, limited by noise in the instruments and their environments. Identifying and removing the sources of noise…
This is an overview of the adaptive optics used in Advanced LIGO (aLIGO), known as the thermal compensation system (TCS). The thermal compensation system was designed to minimize thermally-induced spatial distortions in the interferometer…
We investigate the limits of ground-based astrometry with adaptive optics using the core of the Galactic globular cluster M5. Adaptive optics systems provide near diffraction-limit imaging with the world's largest telescopes. The…
Adaptive Optics has become a key technology for the largest ground-based telescopes currently under or close to begin of construction. Adaptive optics is an indispensable component and has basically only one task, that is to operate the…
We show that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a powerful instrument in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). LIGO's ability to detect gravitational waves (GWs) from astrophysical sources, such…