Adaptive optics with MAD

These two images both show the Galactic Centre, but the clarity of the image on the right is vastly improved. It was produced with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD), an instrument installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope that is designed to compensate for the blurring effect of the atmosphere. It works by performing real-time corrections to the atmospheric turbulence by means of computer-controlled deformable mirrors.