Supersharp image of planet Neptune taken from the ground

Rob Beschizza 6:58 am Tue Jul 24, 2018

This isn't taken by a far-flung probe on its way to Alpha Centauri, but from the ground on planet Earth. The European Space Agency: A "new technique called laser tomography [captures] images from the ground at visible wavelengths that are sharper than those from #Hubble."

To achieve this four brilliant lasers are fixed to UT4 that project columns of intense orange light 30 centimetres in diameter into the sky, stimulating sodium atoms high in the atmosphere and creating artificial Laser Guide Stars. Adaptive optics systems use the light from these “stars” to determine the turbulence in the atmosphere and calculate corrections one thousand times per second, commanding the thin, deformable secondary mirror of UT4 to constantly alter its shape, correcting for the distorted light.

Whoa.

Image: European Southern Observatory / P. Weibacher (AIP)

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