Related papers: Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics with Laser Guide S…
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) has been designed to include an adaptive optics system and associated laser guide star (LGS) facility to correct for the image distortion due to Earth's atmospheric turbulence and achieve diffraction-limited…
Laser guide star systems based on Rayleigh scattering require some means to deal with the flash of low altitude laser light that follows immediately after each laser pulse. These systems also need a fast shutter to isolate the high altitude…
Precision wavefront control on future segmented-aperture space telescopes presents significant challenges, particularly in the context of high-contrast exoplanet direct imaging. We present a new wavefront control architecture that…
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…
MICADO is the adaptive optics imaging camera being studied for the E-ELT. Its design has been optimised for use with MCAO, but will have its own SCAO module for the initial operational phase; and in principle could also be used with GLAO or…
We employ the recently installed near infrared Multi-Conjugate Adaptive optics demonstrator (MAD) to determine basic properties of a newly identified, old and distant, Galactic open cluster (FSR1415). The MAD facility remarkably approaches…
Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) is essential for increasing the corrected Field-of-View (FoV) in astronomical imaging and potentially for free-space optical communications, particularly for small-aperture, transportable systems. We…
{We report on an intensity-only and deep-learning based method for laser beam characterization that allows to predict the underlying optical field within milliseconds. A simple near-field / far-field camera setup enables online control of…
The Giant Magellan Telescope will use laser tomography adaptive optics to correct for atmospheric turbulence using artificial guide stars created in the sodium layer of the atmosphere (altitude ~95km). The sodium layer has appreciable…
The abundant optical spectrum is a promising part of the electromagnetic spectrum for 6G communication systems. The visible light spectrum which is a part of the optical spectrum, can be used to provide communication and illumination…
Cost effective, new antenna technology is required to build the large collecting area being planned for the next generation of radio telescopes. The Large Adaptive Reflector (LAR) is a novel concept being developed in Canada to meet this…
The tunable gamma-ray lens has turned out to be a promising alternative to the classical fixed-energy Laue-lenses discussed in the past. We describe here our development work on a miniature pedestal with one-axis tilt adjustment. We also…
I argue that there is a crisis in optical Astronomy due to a paucity of telescopes and thus the need for a paradigm shift in telescope technology. Large increases in collecting areas and observing time/astronomer are only possible if we…
GRAVITY is a second generation instrument for the VLT Interferometer, designed to enhance the near-infrared astrometric and spectro-imaging capabilities of VLTI. Combining beams from four telescopes, GRAVITY will provide an astrometric…
In this paper, we discuss the benefits of ground-based, adaptive optics (AO) aided observations for star formation research. After outlining the general advantages, we present results obtained during the ALFA science demonstration programme…
Coherent beam combination is one promising way to overcome the power limit of one single laser. In this paper, we use a Multi-Plane Light Converter to combine 12 fibers at 1.03 micron with a phase locking setup. The overall loss measurement…
Coupled laser arrays exhibit rich and complex physical properties, making them powerful tools for exploring a wide range of phenomena. They enable efficient ground-state optimization of complex landscapes, solve computational problems,…
With the LHC successfully collecting data at 7 TeV, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades leading eventually to about five times the LHC design-luminosity some 10-years from now in the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project.…
Advanced Virgo is the project to upgrade the Virgo interferometric detector of gravitational waves, with the aim of increasing the number of observable galaxies (and thus the detection rate) by three orders of magnitude. The project is now…
We describe an optical bench in which we lock the relative frequencies or phases of a set of three lasers in order to use them in a cold atoms interferometry experiment. As a new feature, the same two lasers serve alternately to cool atoms…