Much like taking pictures on Earth, astronomers have to deal with many issues with distortion when it comes to taking images. The solution to this issue is a technology called adaptive optics (often referred to as AO), which was originally used to improve the performance of optical systems on ground based telescopes. [1] Adaptive optics are made up of mirrors, that can be reshaped that are controlled by computers. These mirrors fix the distortion caused by the turbulence of the Earth’s atmosphere. This makes the images that are obtained have a quality that is as good as those taken from space, with the best image so far being twice as sharp as an image from the Hubble Telescope taken in Chile by the Magellan-Clay telescope. [2] Adaptive optics have medical benefits as well as astronomical benefits and are used in retinal research and imaging. Adaptive optics gets rid of ocular aberrations, which are distortions in images of objects caused when rays of light do not obey the laws describing perfect optical system on the retina. However, the eye is far from a perfect optical system since it is not centred on its axis perfectly and it is not a fixed optical instrument. The eye has many natural adaptations that lessen the aberrations, so that they are not troublesome or noticeable for everyday vision. Adaptive optics have many positive interactions with economical and ethical factors because of the cheap building price compared to alternative options and the little concern with any harm the technology actually does. It is a beneficial piece of technology that has developed valuable uses outside of astronomy that can lead to more uses in the future.
Adaptive optics are economically beneficial in many ways. [3] First, the price of teles...
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...pest-ever telescopic images; 2013 August 28 [cited 2014 May 20]; [about 3 screens]. Available from: http://www.gizmag.com/magao-adaptive-optics-highest-resolution-astronomical-images/28801/
[4] Caltech Astronomy [Internet].California: Adaptive Optics on the 200-Inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory; [cited 2014 May 20]; [about 10 lines]. Available from: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/AO/
[5] Aura Astronomy [Internet]. Space-based vs. ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics; [cited 2014 May 20]; [about 2 pages]. Available from: http://www.aura-astronomy.org/news/archive/hst_vs_ao_2.pdf
[6] Vera-Diaz A F, Doble N. Intech Journals [Internet]. The human eye and adaptive optics; 2012 January 20 [cited 2014 May 20]; [about 6 lines]. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/topics-in-adaptive-optics/the-need-for-adaptive-optics-in-the-human-eye
Hubble, Edwin. 1929, "A Relation between Distance and Radial Velocity among Extra-Galactic Nebulae" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 15, Issue 3, pp. 168-173
2, Alter Dinsmore, Cleminshaw H. Clarence, Philips G John. Pictorial Astronomy. United States: Sidney Feinberg, 1963.
The extreme brightness of the O-type and B-type stars, coupled with the Earth’s atmosphere, has always made high-resolution imaging of the star-forming region difficult. But recent advances in adaptive optics and the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope have allowed for incredible detail into the center of the dust cloud. 3 The technological advances have also helped reveal several faint stars within the center of the nebula.
Example #1: This movie of C/1997 T1 (Utsunomiya) was obtained by Tim Puckett on 1997 October 7. It was obtained with a 60-cm reflector and shows the comet's motion over a period of about 75 minutes. The field of view is 9 x 9 arc minutes or about one-third the diameter of the full moon.
The four main components of the eye that are responsible for producing an image are the cornea, lens, ciliary muscles and retina. Incoming light rays first encounter the cornea. The bulging shape of the cornea causes it to refract light similar to a convex lens. Because of the great difference in optical density between the air and the corneal material and because of the shape of the cornea, most of the refraction to incoming light rays takes place here. Light rays then pass through the pupil, and then onto the lens. A small amount of additional refraction takes place here as the light rays are "fine tuned" so that they focus on the retina.
Ground-based observations also have played a major role in recent advances in scientific understanding of nebulae. The emission of gas in the radio and submillimetre wavelength ranges provides crucial information regarding physical conditions and molecular composition. Large radio telescope array's, in which several individual telescopes function collectively as a single enormous instrument, give spatial resolutions in the radio regime far superior to any yet achieved by optical means.
This study also talks about the rods and cones in the structure of the eye and are primarily to process the visual information being perceived. They claim that the rods are the cells in control of detecting colours while our
Imagine this, you are walking through the forest when all of a sudden you come across the most fascinating insect (perhaps insects may not seem too fascinating at first but once you learn a little about them they are the most fascinating creatures). Well, back to the story, so you find this insect and you realize that it seems very different from those you've previously encountered. Well, being the curious scientist that you are, you take out your trusty magnifying glass and take a look. You move the lens back and forth until you find the perfect image. You see the insect's wonderful colours and patterns which you would not be able to see with your naked eye. What just happened? You simply placed a piece of glass between you and the insect and all of a sudden you get this wonderful view of nature which would otherwise be missed. Well, if you are at all curious as to know how magnifying glasses and microscopes work, then read on and find out.
Dyson, Marianne J. Space and Astronomy: Decade by Decade. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 14+. Print.
Research News Planetary Scientists are Seeing the Unseeable Richard A. Kerr Science, New Series, Vol. 235, No. 2 -. 4784. The. Jan. 2, 1987, pp. 113-117. 29-31. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Stable URL:
The principle behind the refractive telescopes is the use of two glass lenses (objective lens and eyepiece lens) to gather and bend parallel light rays in a certain way so that the image fits the size of the eye's pupil. Light rays is gather through the opening of the telescope called the aperture and passes through the objective lens and refracts onto a single point called the focal point. From there the light rays continue the same direction until it hits the eyepiece lens which also refract the light back into parallel rays. During the process, the image that enters our eyes is actually reverse of the original image and magnified because the size in which we preceive the image.
Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004
Scientists and engineers have been able to enhance our lifestyles by understanding and using the Laws, Concepts and Principles of Optics and how they are applied in Optical Instruments. The key concepts are:
The refracting telescope is one of many different types of telescope. Refracting telescopes work by refracting the light through an initial convex lens, (known as the objective lens), then through another convex lens (known as the eyepiece lens). These two lenses focus the light into the eyepiece so we can see the image clearly.