The Quest for Resolution – Adaptive
Optics
Wouldn’t it be great if you could analyse
exactly how the atmosphere is distorting the light waves coming in, and make a
correction with a flexible mirror that was fast enough (100 times per second) to
keep up
with the turbulence. Amazingly, we can now begin to do that!
The technique is
called “adaptive optics”. You use a small “rubber mirror” near the
focus (not the big telescope mirror). You may need several hundred
little pistons to correct a large telescope.