In this picture ANU instrument scientist Celine d'Orgeville stands in front of the EOS 1.8 meter telescope at Mount Stromlo Observatory where her image is reflected an infinite amount of times by the two telescope mirrors.
In this picture ANU instrument scientist Celine d'Orgeville stands in front of the EOS 1.8 meter telescope at Mount Stromlo Observatory where her image is reflected an infinite amount of times by the two telescope mirrors. Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have harnessed a technique that helps telescopes see objects in the night sky more clearly to fight against dangerous and costly space debris. The researchers' work on adaptive optics - which removes the haziness caused by turbulence in the atmosphere - has been applied to a new 'guide star' laser for better identifying, tracking and safely moving space debris. Space debris is a major threat to the $US700 billion of space infrastructure delivering vital services around the globe each day. With laser guide star adaptive optics, this infrastructure now has a new line of defence. The optics that focus and direct the guide star laser have been developed by the ANU researchers with colleagues from Electro Optic Systems (EOS), RMIT University, Japan and the USA as part of the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC). EOS will now commercialise the new guide star laser technology, which could also be incorporated in tool kits to enable high-bandwidth ground to space satellite communications.
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