MRI: Development of wide-field adaptive optics at the Large Binocular Telescope using multi-laser guide beacons

自适应光学(AO)是一种技术，它允许天文学家校正望远镜接收到的图像，以消除穿过地球大气层的光线所引起的扭曲。近年来，这项技术取得了重大进展，它的使用正在增加，并成为世界上大多数最大望远镜的常规使用。既然自动对焦技术既强大又可靠，科学家和工程师们正在寻求将其应用到更广泛的视野中，以便能够以相同的高分辨率一次看到更大的物体或星团。亚利桑那大学的迈克尔·哈特博士正在为大型双筒望远镜(LBT)探索这样一条道路。LBT在一个共同的支架上使用了两个8.4米的反射镜，是世界上最大的单一支架上的光学望远镜。它准备做出新的发现，广域声光的加入将为它提供独特的能力。这一宽广的视场将通过使用分布在LBT视场中的几颗激光导航星来实现。通过快速测量这些导航星在视场中的变形，并用LBT的自适应次级反射镜进行校正，将在大范围内实现高空间分辨率。有了这种能力，天文学家将第一次能够研究宇宙中近距离昏暗恒星以及最远的星系和类星体的细节。这项工作得到了美国国家科学基金会通过天文科学部的重大研究仪器计划的支持。

Adaptive Optics (AO) is a technique that allows astronomers to correct images received by a telescope for the distortions introduced by light passing through the earth's atmosphere. The technique has made significant advances in recent years and its use is increasing and becoming routine at most of the world's largest telescopes. Now that AO is robust and reliable, scientists and engineers are seeking to apply it to a wider field of view so that larger objects or clusters of objects can all be viewed with the same high resolution at once. Dr. Michael Hart, of the University of Arizona, is pursuing such a path for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The LBT employs two 8.4-meter mirrors on a common mount and is the largest optical telescope on a single mount in the world. It is poised to make new discoveries and the addition of wide-field AO will provide it with a unique capability. This wide field will be realized by employing several laser guide stars spread over the field of view of the LBT. By rapidly measuring the distortions of these guide stars over the field of view and correcting them with the LBT's adaptive secondary mirrors, high spatial resolution over a wide field will be achieved. With this capability, astronomers will be able, for the first time, to study the details of nearby faint stars as well as the most distant galaxies and quasars in the universe. This work is supported by NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program through the Division of Astronomical Sciences.