Related papers: Characterizing the Adaptive Optics Off-Axis Point-…
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…
Over the last few years increasing consideration has been given to the study of Laser Guide Stars (LGS) for the measurement of the disturbance introduced by the atmosphere in optical and near-infrared astronomical observations from the…
Pulsed sodium laser guide stars (LGS) are useful because they allow for Rayleigh blanking and fratricide avoidance in multiple-LGS systems. Bloch-equation simulations of sodium-light interactions show that these may be able to achieve…
Astronomical adaptive optics (AO) is a critical approach to enable ground-based diffraction-limited imaging and high contrast science, with the potential to enable habitable exoplanet imaging on future extremely large telescopes. However,…
(Abridged) We present the first Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGS-AO) observations of the Galactic center. LGS-AO has dramatically improved the quality, robustness, and versatility with which high angular resolution infrared images of…
Robo-AO is an autonomous laser guide star adaptive optics system recently commissioned at the Kitt Peak 2.1-m telescope. Now operating every clear night, Robo-AO at the 2.1-m telescope is the first dedicated adaptive optics observatory.…
Segmented primary mirrors are indispensable to master the steady increase in spatial resolution. Phasing optics systems must reduce segment misalignments to guarantee the high optical quality required for astronomical science programs.…
We investigate the use of ultra-narrow band interference filters to enable daytime use of sodium laser guide star adaptive optics systems. Filter performance is explored using theoretical and vendor supplied filter transmission profiles, a…
Context. Adaptive optics (AO) is now a tool commonly deployed in astronomy. The real time correction of the atmospheric turbulence that AO enables allows telescopes to perform close to the diffraction limit at the core of their point spread…
The sodium laser guide star adaptive optics system ALFA, which is installed at the Calar Alto 3.5-m telescope, has been undergoing an intensive optimisation phase. Observations using natural guide stars that are presented in this paper,…
We introduce a new algorithm for interpolating measurements of the point-spread function (PSF) using stars from many exposures. The principal components of the variation in the PSF pattern from multiple exposures are used to solve for…
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…
In the last few years, new Adaptive Optics [AO] techniques have emerged to answer new astronomical challenges: Ground-Layer AO [GLAO] and Multi-Conjugate AO [MCAO] to access a wider Field of View [FoV], Multi-Object AO [MOAO] for the…
Adaptive Optics is a prime example of how progress in observational astronomy can be driven by technological developments. At many observatories it is now considered to be part of a standard instrumentation suite, enabling ground-based…
Adaptive optics (AO) allows one to derive the point spread function (PSF) simultaneously to the science image, which is a major advantage in post-processing tasks such as astrometry/photometry or deconvolution. Based on the algorithm of…
Observations close to the diffraction limit, with high Strehl ratios from Adaptive Optics (AO)-assisted instruments mounted on ground-based telescopes are a reality and will become even more widespread with the next generation instruments…
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…
The performance of adaptive optics systems is partially dependant on the algorithms used within the real-time control system to compute wavefront slope measurements. We demonstrate use of a matched filter algorithm for the processing of…
Ground-based high contrast exoplanet imaging requires state-of-the-art adaptive optics (AO) systems in order to detect extremely faint planets next to their brighter host stars. For such extreme AO systems (with high actuator count…
Atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in the local refractive index of air that accumulatively disturb a wave's phase and amplitude distribution as it propagates. This impairs the effective range of laser weapons as well as the…