Laser beam creating an “artificial” star

A laser beam shoots out of Yepun, the fourth Unit Telescope of Europe’s flagship observatory, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). This beam is used to create an artificial star above Paranal to assist the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT. 

Adaptive optics is a technique that allows astronomers to overcome the blurring effect of the atmosphere and obtain images almost as sharp as would be possible if the whole telescope were placed in space, above Earth's atmosphere.

Crediti:

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:yb_lgs_beam_8848_cc
Tipo:Fotografico
Data di rilascio:Giovedì 03 Dicembre 2009 23:19
Grandezza:2000 x 3000 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:Very Large Telescope
Tipo:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope
Categoria:Paranal

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
1,9 MB

Sfondi

1024x768
339,0 KB
1280x1024
536,6 KB
1600x1200
757,1 KB
1920x1200
898,2 KB
2048x1536
1,1 MB