ter's smog-like haze, probably in response to a planet-wide upheaval more than a year ago.
Being able to correct wide field images for atmospheric distortions has been the dream of scientists and engineers for decades. Astronomers have used a new device called the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT)
The new images of Jupiter prove the value of the advanced technology used by MAD, using two or more guide stars instead of one as references to remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence over a field of view thirty times larger than existing techniques.
"This type of adaptive optics has a big advantage for looking at large objects such as planets, star clusters and nebulae," says lead researcher Franck Marchis, from UC Berkeley and the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, USA . "While regular adaptive optics provides excellent correction in a small field of view, MAD provides good correction over a larger area of sky. And, in fact, were it not for MAD, we would not be able to perform these amazing observations" .
Being able to correct wide field images for atmospheric distortions has been the dream of scientists and engineers for decades. Astronomers have used a new device called the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT)
The new images of Jupiter prove the value of the advanced technology used by MAD, using two or more guide stars instead of one as references to remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence over a field of view thirty times larger than existing techniques.
"This type of adaptive optics has a big advantage for looking at large objects such as planets, star clusters and nebulae," says lead researcher Franck Marchis, from UC Berkeley and the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, USA . "While regular adaptive optics provides excellent correction in a small field of view, MAD provides good correction over a larger area of sky. And, in fact, were it not for MAD, we would not be able to perform these amazing observations" .
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