Lasers above
Behind the camera, one of the four Unit Telescopes (UTs) of the VLT at the Paranal Observatory in Chile is using its cutting-edge Adaptive Optics (AO) system. Natural fluctuations in Earth's atmosphere interfere with and blur the light from distant objects out in space. AO can be used to correct for this and obtain sharper images by shining lasers high into the atmosphere to create an artificial "star". Since it is known what this "star" should look like, it is possible to modify the shape of the mirrors in the UTs to counteract the distorting effect.
Crédito:G. Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)/ESO
Sobre la imagen
Identificador: | d5a9055-cc |
Tipo: | Fotográfico |
Fecha de publicación: | 28 de Septiembre de 2016 a las 10:35 |
Tamaño: | 3770 x 5647 px |
Sobre el objeto
Nombre: | Auxiliary Telescopes, Cerro Paranal |
Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
Categoría: | Paranal |