Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
I wonder if it corrects for a whole frame of an image or just the one star of interest?
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I got an answer from another forum.
Quote:
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"As for usefulness - the corrected patch of an AO is usually less than an arc minute."
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I replied.
That's only less than 60 arc seconds.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...iter-and-mars/
"Jupiter measures 32 arc seconds while Mars is only 4.1 arc seconds, half the size of Mercury."
So you think the AO in this system is only good for such a small target?
They don't mention it in all the hype.
A reply.
Quote:
In the original sense of what an AO does: Yes.
Adaptive Optics intends to correct the (fast) distortions / wavefront deformations, to deliver a diffraction limited image.
This is physically only possible for a very small area, and as such only useful if you do stuff like double stars or planets.
For wide field imaging (and the 1' limit I gave is actually already over-optimistic), an AO doesn't help at all (other than the tip/tilt and focus terms mentioned in my first post).
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