![]() The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was one of the first researchers to develop a fiber-based sodium laser that was five to ten times more efficient. However, in order to make adjustable optics even better, they turned to another technology that only uses 10W. Originally, scientists used dye-based lasers to create these guide stars which took about 50W of power and used organic liquid dye. The energy from the laser will react with the sodium and release fluorescence light. At this wavelength, the sodium left behind from deteriorated meteorites accumulates in a layer of the mesosphere which is around 50-65 mi in altitude. ![]() In astronomy, a sodium guide star is created by emitting a laser into the sky at a wavelength of 598.2 nm with 10-50 W of power. So how do we create these fake stars with laser? Fiber Lasers are Used to Generate Guide Stars in Space Now we know how telescopes capture images, but how do we make these images sharper? Astronomers have developed a clever method of creating “fake” stars with lasers in order to correct for air turbulence and reduce distortions. Courtesy of Automated Imaging Association Since they read data at a larger scale without individual pixel boundaries, CCD sensors are less susceptible to noise, which is why they are better for low light situations where every photon of light is critical for composing an image to analyze. These sensors read in columns instead of individual pixels. ![]() However, in astronomy, to better detect the dimmest light that an object is emitting, scientists use advanced CCD sensors. These sensors are composed of individual pixels to sense light intensity and color which are then processed into one large image. CMOS sensors are typically used in phones and professional cameras. There are two sensors that are most commonly used to capture images, complementary metal oxide semiconductor ( CMOS) and charged coupled devices ( CCD). However, our retina can only pick up so much light, so we turn to computers to process images. Your eyes are typically used to see the deep space object. Courtesy of Views of the Cosmos Different Imaging Sensors How the difference in turbulence can affect image quality. So they turn to the use of clever electronic optics to counter the effects of the atmosphere. However, due to their expensive price tag and limited reparability, most astronomers typically use ground-based telescopes to find distant galaxies and stars. Well-funded researchers use space telescopes that are in orbit around the Earth to capture the darkest of objects without interference from the atmosphere. As a result, high-power telescopes are typically built-in dry deserts and high altitudes to reduce the density of molecules that might interfere with the image. The “twinkling” we see is a result of turbulence in the air, which can make images wavy and blurry. Have you ever seen twinkling stars? They might be romantic during a late-night picnic, but they’re absolutely devastating to researchers. However, these telescopes do come with their own huge disadvantage. Astronomy has recently seen huge improvements in the image quality of deep space objects due to clever use of such advanced photonics technologies.Īstronomers typically use ground-based telescopes to search for the deepest and darkest objects. In astronomy it has become an indispensable tool for taking crisp images of distant objects. ![]() Deformable mirrors are specialty mirrors that are capable of deforming their reflective surface and thus achieve wavefront correction of optical aberrations.
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