The Adaptive Optics Revolution: A History

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Автор: Duffner R.W.

Название: The Adaptive Optics Revolution: A History

Издательство: University of New Mexico Press

Год: 2009

Формат: PDF

Размер: 29 Мб

Язык: Английский

Страниц: 457

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Adaptive optics is the most revolutionary breakthrough in astronomy since Galileo pointed his telescope skyward four hundred years ago. It is critical technology that will enable astronomers to answer challenging questions about the universe.

Over the last four decades, a formidable and persistent team of scientists from the Air Force Research Laboratory, MIT/Lincoln Laboratory, and private contractors led the way in achieving groundbreaking advances in adaptive optics. They demonstrated laser guide star techniques and made adaptive optics practical on large telescopes. The military aggressively pursued the development of adaptive optics for two reasons-imaging for space situational awareness and laser weapons. A significant part of this research occurred at the Starfire Optical Range in New Mexico and the Maui optical site in Hawaii. The program remained classified during the 1970s and 1980s, but the government declassified it in the early 1990s, enabling significant technology transfer to the astronomy community.