1Conventional Adaptive Optics System

A conventional (linear) adaptive optics system,

whether it is used for imaging or whether it is used for laser beam propagation
, consists of three principal subsystems: a wavefront sensor
to detect the optical disturbance, an active mirror or deformable mirror to
correct for the optical disturbance, and a control computer to monitor and
decode the sensor information for the active mirror.

Adaptive optics imaging system.

2Image Spread with Atmospheric Turbulence

Linear systems theoryshows how an image is composed of an

object convolved with the point spread functionPSF of the imaging
system. Atmospheric turbulencedegrades the PSF and
smears the image.
The PSF is the image of a point source of light. The imaging
process experiences diffraction, and the object is
convolved with the PSF. The resultant image is a blurred
version of the true object.
Adding aberrations to the optical system results in a
broadening of the PSF and increased blurring.

Adaptive optics can compensate for the aberrations and

reduce blurring.

What is adaptive optics? Answer for the

common
screws

manAtmospheric
up

the

image.

turbulence

Adaptive

unscrews it.

3The Principle of Phase Conjugation

optics

All systems of adaptive optics

generally use the principle of phase
conjugation. An optical
beam is made up of both an amplitude
A and a phase
component and is described
mathematically by the electric field
Aexp(i). Adaptive optics reverses the
phase to provide compensation for the
phase distortion. The reversal of the
phase, being in the exponent of the
electric field vector, means changing the
sign of the term behind the imaginary
number. This mathematical conjugation
corresponds to phase conjugation of the
optical field, just what is needed to
compensate fora distorted
phase.
While Horace Babcock is generally
thought to be the inventor of adaptive
optics with his paper The possibility of
compensating astronomical seeing,
[Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 65, 229, (1953)]
his exact idea was never put into
practice. It wasnt until the technological developments in electro-optics in the late 1960s
and early 1970s that made a working adaptive optics system possible.

4Point Spread Function for an Astronomical

Telescope

For an uncompensated astronomical telescope the point spread function is limited

by the diffraction of the optics and the atmospheric turbulence. The PSF spot has a
central core width and an angular width proportional to /D, where D is the telescope
pupil diameter. A halo surrounding the core has a width with an
angular size of roughly /r0, where r0 represents the strength of atmospheric turbulence.

5Frieds Coherence Length

Frieds coherence length is a widely used descriptor of the level of
atmospheric turbulence at a particular site.

For a fixed wavelength , astronomical seeing is given by the angle

known structure constant profile [

. For a

, where z is the altitude] and a flat-Earth

assumption, the coherence length is given by

where k = 2/, is the zenith angle (0 deg is straight overhead), and the integral is
over the path to the ground-based telescope from the source of light.
Under turbulence, the resolution is limited by Frieds coherence length rather
than the diameter of the telescope. Since r0 ranges from under 5 cm with poor seeing to
more than 20 cm with good seeing, even in the best conditions, a large diameter telescope
without adaptive optics does not provide any better resolution than a telescope with a
smaller diameter.

6Astronomical Brightness
The term brightness represents the brightness of an object in the heavens.
As the object such as a star is observed, the amount of light (number of photons)
collected by an aperture (such as the human eye) per second is astronomical brightness.
The visual magnitude mv of a star is a logarithmic measure of the stars
brightness in the visible spectrum. Smaller numbers represent brighter

stars; negative numbers represent even brighter stars. One expression that accounts for
atmospheric absorption relates visual magnitude to brightness:

7Isoplanatic Angle
Light traveling from a wavefront beacon should traverse the same atmosphere as
the light from the object of interest. When the angular difference between the paths
results in a mean-square wavefront error of 1.0 rad2, the angular
difference is called the isoplanatic angle. For a given structure constant

profile (

where z is the altitude), and a flat-Earth assumption, the isoplanatic

angle is given by

where k=2/, is the zenith angle, and the integral is over the path
from the ground-based telescope to the source of light above the surface. The graph
illustrates the isoplanatic angle versus wavelength for the Hufnagel-Valley H-V model
and the Stragic Laser Communication SLC model of turbulence.

8Zernike Polynomials
Optical phase can be represented by a 2D surface over the aperture.
The deviation from flat (or some other reference surface) is the wavefront error sensed
by the wavefront sensor. A very useful infinite-series representation
of the wavefront is the Zernike polynomial series. Radial (index n) and azimuthal
(index m) polynomials are preceded by Zernike coefficients Anm and Bnm that completely
describe the wavefront up to the order specified by the largest n or m. The series is

written

where the azimuthal polynomials are sines and cosines

of multiple angles and the radial polynomial is

The series is especially useful in adaptive optics because the polynomials are
orthogonal over a circle of radius RR,
common to many optical system geometries. For R normalized to unity, the first few
radial terms are given here.

9Zernike Polynomials (contd)

A few terms are graphed to visualize their relationship to third-order optical
aberrations.

Zernike polynomials associated with low-order modes.

Reflecting telescopes of the Cassegrain design have a central

obscuration, which requires an extremely large number of Zernike
coefficientsmore than can be adequately described. A set of annular Zernike
polynomials may be obtained from Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization,and this series is
generally used for optical systems with central obscurations.

10Atmospheric Turbulence Models

One of the most widely used models for the atmospheric turbulence structure
constant as a function of altitude is the H-V model:

where h is the altitude in kilometers, and

is in units of

. The parameters A and W are adjustable for local

conditions. For the most common H-V 5/7 model (leading to r0
= 5 cm and 0 = 7 rad), the structure constant at the surface
A is

, and the wind velocity aloft W is 21.

For conditions other than the 5/7 model, one can calculate
A and W from

where the coherence length r0 is in centimeters and the

isoplanatic angle 0is in microradians.
Other models are layered, such as the SLC-Night model:

Past Present and Future

An Analogy Eye Glasses for big Telescopes

What has been done: where the science is

Atmospheric Distortion

Using a Deformable Mirror

Sensing the Wavefront

Sensing the Wavefront (cont.)

Making the Deformable Mirror Move

Doing Real Time Solutions

Some Definitions I (Seeing)

Some Definitions II (Seeing Limited vs Diffraction Limited

Telescopes, Strehl Ratio)

The "Classified" Babcock Paper PASP (1953) The root of

Adaptive Optics Theory

Babcock's original set-up

First Astronomical Instruments OHP in 1989 and at ESO in 1991

ADONIS: ADaptive Optics Near Infrared System at ESO

University of Hawaii Adaptive Optics System 1994 Used at

CFHT and UKIRT

Hokupa'a: New Version of the Hawaiian System

PUEO: Probing the Universe with Enhanced Optics at CFHT

PUEO: Images of Titan and Saturn with a comparison to HST

images

PUEO: A Binary Star and The Galactic Center with and

without Adaptive Optics

PUEO: NGC 7469 A Distant Galaxy seen from a distance of

200,000,000 Light Years

PUEO: Arp 299 The Merging of Two Galaxies NGC 3690 and

IC 694

The Present: All Large Telescopes are planning to add Adaptive Optics Systems

The KECK System under Construction at Waimea Headquarters on HAWAII

The Next Step INTERFEROMETRY using Two Large Adaptive Optics Telescopes

The KECK INTERFEROMETER for Direct Detection of Exo-Planets

The Very Large Telescope Project (VLT) site in Chile, Cerro Paranal, seen from Space

The VLT Project FOUR 8 METER TELESCOPES as an INTERFEROMETER in Chile

The VLT Adaptive Optics System (On UT1)

The Long Term Goal is to move from Exo-Planet Detection to Exo-Planet Imaging

The first steps MMT and Dark Speckle Techniques (Detection Techniques)

A Dedicated Telescope for High Contrast, High Angular Resolution Observations

The MAUNA KEA INTERFEROMETER

Large Earth and Moon Based Telescopes (25 to 100 Meter Apertures)

A 25 Meter Telescope (Artists Interpretation)

New Technologies for Wafefront Correctors Micro-Mirrors

High Power Laser Welding and Cutting Tools for Precision Manufacturing

Medical Physics: Optamology Laser Surgery and SUPERVISION?

Medical Physics: Color Perception and SUPERVISION (a possible down side)

Medical Physics: Non intrusive Surgery

The FUTURE of Adaptive Optics is almost unlimited


aberration

absolute magnitude
10 (32.6 )
absolute zero
0 (-459.67 F or -273.15 C)
absorption lines

accretion disk

achromatic lens

active galactic nuclei

adaptive optics

albedo
0 (
) 1 () 0.07 0.6
altazimuth mount

altitude
1. 2..
anaglyph

andromeda galaxy
M31
angular size

anisotropy

annular eclipse

antimatter

aperture

aphelion

apochromatic lens

apogee

apparent field of view

apparent magnitude


archeoastronomy

arcminute
1/60
arcsecond
1/3600 1/60
asteroid

asteroid belt

astrometry

astronomical unit (AU)

150000000 1
AU = 1.5108
astronomy

astrophysics

atmosphere

atom

atomic nucleus

aurora

autoguider
CCD
autumnal equinox
9 23
axis

azimuth

barred spiral galaxy

baryonic

baryonic matter

baryons

Big Bang

billion
1,000,000,000
binary star
.
black hole


X-1 LMC-3
blazar

blueshift

Bok globule

bolide

bolides

Bose-Einstein condensate -

brown dwarf

buckyball
60

bulge

carbon star

Cassegrain telescope

cataclysmic variable
CV
catadioptric telescope

CCD (charge-coupled device):

celestial pole

celestial sphere

cepheid variable

mv - Mv=5 log d - 5
(d)
Chandrasekhar limit
1.4

chondrite

chromosphere
H( )
circumpolar
Circumpolar stars are permanently above the horizon from a given observing point
on Earth; that is to say, they never set. At Earth's Geographical North Pole (90

north latitude), all stars in the sky are cirumpolar. On Earth's equator, no stars are
circumpolar.
clock drive

coated optics

collimation

coma

comet
()
comet nucleus

conjunction

constellation

convection

core

corona

coronagraph

coronal mass ejections

cosmic background radiation

cosmic microwave background

cosmic ray

cosmological constant

cosmology

cosmos
synonym for universe
crescent

critical density

crust

dark adaptation

dark energy

dark matter

missing mass
dark nebula

declination

( ) +5 5
( ) -20
20
deep-sky objects

degree
1. 1/360
2.
density

deuterium

diffraction

Dobsonian telescope

Doppler effect

dust

dwarf galaxy

dwarf star

eccentricity

eclipse

ecliptic

ejecta

electromagnetic radiation
X
electromagnetic spectrum

electron

element

elliptical galaxy

elongation

emission


emission nebula

ephemeris

equatorial mount

equinox

escape velocity

evening star

event horizon

exit pupil

exobiologists /

extragalactic

extrasolar
beyond the sun
extraterrestrial
beyond Earth
eye relief

eyepiece

field of view

filter

finder scope

fireball
4
fireballs
extremely bright meteors; generally brighter than magnitude 4
first quarter

flare

focal length

focal ratio (f/ratio):

focus

focuser

fork mount


frequency

full moon

galactic disk

galactic nucleus

galactic plane

galaxy

galaxy cluster

gamma rays

gamma-ray burst

gas giant

general relativity

german equatorial mount

giant molecular cloud

gibbous

globular cluster

gravitational lensing

gravity

habitable zone (or ecosphere)

halo

helical rising

heliosphere

helium
8
Hertz

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram

Hubble law

hydrazine

hydrogen
90
hypered film

inclination

inferior conjunction

inferior planet

inflation

infrared

interacting galaxies

interferometer

interferometry

intergalactic

International Space Station

interplanetary

interstellar

interstellar medium

ion

ionization

ionized gas

irregular galaxy

isotope

jet

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

JPL

jet stream
a high-speed, wandering wind current in the upper troposphere that blows from west
to east and affects Earth's weather
Jovian planet
a
Kelvin
1 1.8 0
Kuiper Belt


Lagrange point

Lagrange points
five locations in space relative to two bodies where a third, less massive body can
maintain a stable orbit around a common center of mass
Large Magellanic Cloud

last quarter

latitude

lens

libration /

light pollution

light-gathering power

light-year

limb

limiting magnitude

LINER galaxy

Local Group
35
local supercluster

longitude

luminosity

lunar eclipse

lunar month
29.5
lunation
29.5
magnetometer

magnetosphere

magnitude

main sequence

Maksutov telescope


mantle

mare

mass

mass loss

megaparsec

meridian

Messier objects
18 107
meteor

meteor shower

meteorite

meteoroid

microgravity

microlensing

microwaves

Milky Way
10
Milky Way Galaxy

million
1,000,000 (in American usage)
millisecond pulsar

mirror

molecule

nebula

Neutrino

neutron

neutron star

new moon


Newtonian telescope

NGC objectsNGC
NGC
North Celestial Pole

nova

nuclear fusion

nucleosynthesis

Nucleus

OB associationOB
O B
objective

obliquity

occultation

omega

Omega nebula
5000
M17NGC6618
Oort cloud

open cluster

opposition

optical double

optics

orbit

orbital period

outgassing

position angle

power (or magnification)

Poynting-Robertson effect

precession

primary mirror (or lens):


prime meridian

prism

prograde

prominence

proper motion

proton

protoplanet

protoplanetary disk

protostar

pulsar

quantum mechanics

quasar

radial velocity

radiant

radiation

radio galaxy

radio telescope

radio waves

radiometer

red dwarf

red giant

red supergiant

redshift

reflection nebula

reflector

refractor

regolith

relativity

resolution

resolving power

retrograde

reusable launch vehicle (RLV)

revolution

ribonucleic acid

rich-field telescope

right ascension

RNA

rotation

rotation period

telescope

terminator

terrestrial
of or relating to Earth
terrestrial planet

thermal radiation

tidal force

tides

Trans-Neptunion Object
TNO
transit

transparency

tremolite

trillion
1,000,000,000,000 (in American usage)

tropical year

true field of view

type Ia supernovala

type II quasarsll
X
type II supernovall

ultraviolet radiation (ultraviolet light):

X
umbra

unidentified infrared bands (UIBs)

universal time

Universe

Van Allen belts

variable star

vernal Equinox
3 21
visible light

voids

volatiles

waning

wavelength

waxing

weight

white dwarf

winter
12 21
X raysX

zenith

zenithal hourly rate

ZHR
zodiac
18

zodiacal light

Lloyd-Hart, M., Taking the twinkle out of starlight, Spectrum, Dec. 2003.

Delft
~15mm~250V
4.5~$1000

Rochester LC SLMs 128128 55

Zernike

CCD

=7.3mrn l Zernike
n=2 10 n=6~10 Zernike RMS/10n=2~4 Zernike
RMS/10 PV 7m
1 Zernike
m
n01234

11,2
234,5
36,78.9
41011,1213,14

1 3 n=4 Zernike 14
12 Zernike n=4,14 Zernike

4
Zernike
Zernike
Gauss

XiYi I 2 4%A
V 19 2 19
Zernike
2 19 Zernike
RMS

0.092

0.356

0.115

0.049

0.229

0.074

0.115

19 n=4 Zernike
5

Zernike 1
2Zernike 3 Zernike Zernike

Zernike xy Zernike

a ak k Zernike Zkk Zernike

k N
S=ZA
Z ZxyIZykI
A a1a2an
S
Z+S
Zernike A Z+ Z
Zernike
Zernike Zernike

3 Zernike
3
N

Zernike

88

65

10

77

65

10

66

54

55

35

44

27

33

14

22