Laser beam creating an “artificial” star

A laser beam shoots out of Yepun, the fourth Unit Telescope of Europe’s flagship observatory, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). This beam is used to create an artificial star above Paranal to assist the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT. 

Adaptive optics is a technique that allows astronomers to overcome the blurring effect of the atmosphere and obtain images almost as sharp as would be possible if the whole telescope were placed in space, above Earth's atmosphere.

Credit:

Over de afbeelding

Id:yb_lgs_beam_8852_cc
Type:Fotografisch
Publicatiedatum:3 december 2009 23:19
Grootte:2000 x 3000 px

Over het object

Naam:Very Large Telescope
Type:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope
Categorie:Paranal

Image Formats

Grote JPEG
1,4 MB

Wallpapers

1024x768
284,1 KB
1280x1024
434,7 KB
1600x1200
597,6 KB
1920x1200
710,1 KB
2048x1536
820,9 KB