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Science 5 May 1978:
Vol. 200. no. 4341, pp. 489 - 494
DOI: 10.1126/science.200.4341.489
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Articles

Sharpening Stellar Images

Andrew Buffington 1, Frank S. Crawford 2, Stephen M. Pollaine 3, Charles D. Orth 1, and Richard A. Muller 1

1 Research physicists at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and at the Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley 94720
2 Professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a research physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
3 Physics graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley

Atmospherically induced phase perturbations have for years limited the resolution of large optical astronomical telescopes. A prototype telescope system with six movable elements has successfully corrected these phase perturbations. This use of real-time image sharpening has restored stellar images to the diffraction limit (in one dimension) for a 30-centimeter telescope. The double-star image presented indicates that the bulk of the atmospherically induced wave-front phase change occurred within 2 kilometers of the telescope. This implies that, at least for conditions similar to those of our measurement, real-time correction can be accomplished simultaneously for a region at least several arc seconds in angular size. With the present apparatus the technique should be practical for objects as dim as fifth magnitude, and with improvements the technique holds the promise of active image restoration for objects as dim as ninth magnitude.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Applications of Closure Phase to Astronomical Imaging.
T. J. CORNWELL (1989)
Science 245, 263-269
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)