First light of new laser on Adaptive Optics Facility at Paranal

The 4 Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF) team have achieved first light with the first of four laser guide star units on Unit Telescope 4 (UT4) of ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal. This is a key step on the way to creating the full Adaptive Optics Facility.

First light took place on the night of Wednesday 29 April 2015 and the first image of the 22-watt laser being launched, taken by the Laser Pointing Camera (LPC), shows the intense orange beam pointed at a globular cluster.