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TOPTICA has signed an updated contract with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the production of four more lasers to be used in the adaptive optics system of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The contract is an extension of a development and deployment contract for ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and will be executed by TOPTICA Projects GmbH, a recently started TOPTICA spin-off.
These unique guide star laser systems have been extensively tested at one of the major ESO telescopes in Paranal, Chile for more than two years. They will be a key component of the new ELT telescope and will help to achieve an unprecedented spatial resolution for optical/infrared ground-based telescopes. The ELT is expected to see first light in 2024.
TOPTICA has pioneered the development of diode-laser based fiber-amplified guide star laser systems at 589 nm (Sodium resonance) for astronomical applications over the last 10 years. Recently, together with their partner MPB Communications, TOPTICA was presented with a prestigious Berthold-Leibinger Innovation Award and the team received the Forman-OSA Award earlier this year.
Over the past years, further large telescope sites have adopted the guide star laser technology under the brand name “SodiumStar 20/2” into their existing astronomy facilities. Other areas of interest for SodiumStar lasers are in satellite tracking and LIDAR. This well-established laser technology of fixed single frequency or tunable single frequency with output powers of tens of Watts can also be transferred to other wavelengths in the range from 520 nm to 640 nm.
The laser system for the adaptive optics system on the ELT will be based on the Four Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF) on ESO’s (VLT). The Adaptive Optics Facility, which uses the 4LGSF, has already shown spectacular improvement in image sharpness on the VLT. The TOPTICA/MPBC Guidestar Alliance was the main contractor for the laser system on the VLT. Adaptive optics compensate for the blurring effect of the Earth’s atmosphere, enabling astronomers to obtain much sharper images. Lasers are used to create multiple artificial guide stars high in the Earth’s atmosphere. These points of light are used as reference light sources to allow the adaptive optics system to compensate for turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. Unlike natural guide stars, laser guide stars can be positioned anywhere to allow the full power of adaptive optics to be used over almost the entire sky.
Anticipated observations enabled by the ELT’s powerful built-in adaptive optics system include everything from studying black holes to investigating some of the youngest galaxies in the distant Universe.
