Panoramic Adaptive Optics

The four Unit Telescopes (UTs) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile have a very special inbuilt technology known as Adaptive Optics (AO). Distortion in observed images that are caused by the disruption of the atmosphere can be corrected using AO. The tech involves firing strong laser beams into the upper atmosphere, which cause it to glow and create fake "stars". By adjusting for how these fakes should look, the mirrors on the UTs can be altered slightly to compensate, producing much clearer astronomical images. This extended paranoma shows this in action.