File:Gemini South Laser Guide Stars (gemini-gslaserguidestarhandout-0).jpg

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On January 22, 2011, a new era in high-resolution astronomy began with the successful propagation of a 5-star sodium laser guide star “constellation” in the skies over Cerro Pachón in Chile.

Summary[edit]

Description
English: On January 22, 2011, a new era in high-resolution astronomy began with the successful propagation of a 5-star sodium laser guide star “constellation” in the skies over Cerro Pachón in Chile. The images here clearly show this monumental event and the five laser-produced stars shining in the sky (inset). This first propagation of the Gemini South telescope laser system marked the beginning of on-sky commissioning for the next-generation adaptive optics system called the Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS), allowing relatively wide-field imaging at extremely high resolution over an exceptionally large portion of the sky. Gemini Observatory captured the event using a digital camera and 500-mm lens as the laser, split into five beams, caused sodium atoms about 90 kilometers overhead to glow. The distinctive 5-point pattern resembles that on a die or domino. Computers analyze the atmosphere’s effect on this pattern, and then use that data to change the shape of a series of deformable mirrors and produce remarkably sharp images. Astronomers use GeMS to study a wide variety of topics ranging from the birth and evolution of stars to the dynamics of distant galaxies. Download printable PDF 2.1MB
Date 10 May 2016 (upload date)
Source Gemini South Laser Guide Stars
Author International Gemini Observatory
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