2 articles · Updated · Sky at Night Magazine · Jun 21
Summary
Paranal Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer is now using laser beams to generate artificial stars about 90km above Chile, a step ESO showcased in a newly released image targeting the Tarantula Nebula.
Those guide stars let the VLTI’s adaptive-optics system measure atmospheric turbulence and correct it in real time, countering the blurring that normally limits ground-based observations.
The laser system is part of ESO’s GRAVITY+ upgrade, which aims to sharpen one of astronomy’s most advanced interferometers by combining light from multiple telescopes into a virtual mirror spanning their separation.
ESO said the technique fulfills an idea proposed in a 1986 Very Large Telescope report, turning a 40-year-old hoped-for breakthrough into an operational tool for studying extremely fine cosmic detail.