Related papers: Image Quality Specification for Solar Telescopes
We demonstrate that for data recorded with a solar telescope that uses adaptive optics and/or post-processing to compensate for many low- and high-order aberrations, the RMS granulation contrast is directly proportional to the Strehl ratio…
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…
To evaluate site quality and to develop multi-conjugative adaptive optics systems for future large solar telescopes, characterization of contributions to seeing from heights up to at least 12 km above the telescope is needed. We describe a…
All next generation ground-based and space-based solar telescopes require a good quality assessment metric in order to evaluate their imaging performance. In this paper, a new image quality metric, the median filter gradient similarity…
The observations of solar photosphere from the ground encounter significant problems due to the presence of Earth's turbulent atmosphere. Prior to applying image reconstruction techniques, the frames obtained in most favorable atmospheric…
Extreme adaptive optics systems are now in operation across the globe. These systems, capable of high order wavefront correction, deliver Strehl ratios of 90% in the near-infrared. Originally intended for the direct imaging of exoplanets,…
The decrease in the rms contrast of time-averaged images with the averaging time is compared between four datasets: (1) a series of solar granulation images recorded at La Palma in 1993; (2) a series of artificial granulation images…
The contrast of granulation is an important quantity characterizing solar surface convection. We compare the intensity contrast at 630 nm, observed using the Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) aboard the Hinode satellite, with the 3D radiative MHD…
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,…
We present a detailed comparison between simulations and seeing-free observations that takes into account the crucial influence of instrumental image degradation. We use images of quiet Sun granulation taken in the blue, green and red…
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…
The performance of telescope systems working at microwave or visible/IR wavelengths is typically described in terms of different parameters according to the wavelength range. Most commercial ray tracing packages have been specifically…
Next-generation ground-based solar observations require good image quality metrics for post-facto processing techniques. Based on the assumption that texture features in solar images are multi-fractal which can be extracted by a trained…
The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) offers excellent imaging quality, but it has a comparatively small field of view. This means that while observing the solar photosphere, there has been no convenient way of calibrating the image scale…
We investigate the possiblity to detect Earth-like planets, in the visible and the near infrared domains, with ground based Extremely Large Telescopes equipped with adaptive systems capable of providing high Strehl ratios. From a detailed…
In this work we study in details the influence of pure astronomical refraction on solar metrologic measurements made from ground-based full disk imagery and provide the tools for correcting the measurements and estimating the associated…
A long-standing issue in solar ground-based observations has been the contamination of data due to stray light, which is particularly relevant in inversions of spectropolarimetric data. We aim to build on a statistical method of correcting…
Ground-based solar observations are severely affected by Earth's turbulent atmosphere. As a consequence, observed image quality and prevailing seeing conditions are closely related. Partial correction of image degradation is nowadays…
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…
Large ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive optics (AO) systems have ushered in a new era of high-resolution infrared photometry and astrometry. Relative astrometric accuracies of <0.2 mas have already been demonstrated from…