File:A Guiding Star for Gemini South.jpg
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English: This Image of the Week captures the use of the laser guide star (LGS) on Gemini South, the southern twin of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, during a night of observations on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes. The LGS creates a constellation of five artificial stars, by causing sodium atoms 90 kilometers up in the atmosphere to glow. By tracking the atmosphere’s effect on these “stars”, the adaptive optics system within Gemini South can correct for distortions caused by turbulence in the atmosphere. These adjustments improve observations so much that a squiggle of light can become a distinct star, galaxy or other astronomical object. While it may seem that this laser must be shockingly powerful, it actually uses only 10–15 watts of energy, about the same as a bedside lamp. A similar LGS system is in use at Gemini North, which you can see in action in this earlier Image of the Week.
Español: Esta Imagen de la Semana captura el uso de estrellas guías artificiales (LGS por sus siglas en inglés) en acción en Gemini Sur, el gemelo austral del Observatorio Gemini, un Programa de NOIRLab de NSF, durante una noche de observaciones en Cerro Pachón, en los Andes chilenos. El láser que se proyecta al cielo crea una constelación de cinco estrellas artificiales, haciendo brillar átomos de sodio a 90 kilómetros de altura en la atmósfera. Esto ayuda a monitorear el efecto atmosférico en estas estrellas falsas, y de esta forma, el sistema de óptica adaptativa dentro de Gemini Sur puede compensar las distorsiones causadas por las turbulencias atmosféricas. Estos ajustes mejoran enormemente las observaciones, tanto que una pequeña línea de luz puede convertirse en una estrella, galaxia u otro objeto astronómico diferente. Si bien este láser parece tener una asombrosa potencia, en realidad sólo utiliza entre 10 a 15 watts de energía, casi lo mismo que una lámpara de velador. Gemini Norte utiliza un sistema LGS similar y puede verse en acción en esta Imagen de la Semana anterior. |
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| Source | https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2212a/ |
| Author | International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes |
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This media was created by the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab).
Their website states: "Unless specifically noted, the images, videos, and music distributed on the public NOIRLab website, along with the texts of press releases, announcements, images of the week and captions; are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided the credit is clear and visible." To the uploader: You must provide a link (URL) to the original file and the authorship information if available. |
  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 18:05, 22 June 2023 | | 4,904 × 3,269 (2.44 MB) | C messier (talk | contribs) | full size |
| 21:34, 30 January 2023 |  | 1,280 × 853 (176 KB) | Yiseth Romero (talk | contribs) | Uploaded a work by International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes from https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2212a/ with UploadWizard |
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