MOAO first on-sky demonstration with CANARY (E. Gendron et al.)

Vol. 529
In section 1. Letters

MOAO first on-sky demonstration with CANARY

Multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) is a technique that compensates for the effect of atmospheric turbulence on many small patches across a wide field of view, using several natural or artificial stars to reconstruct both the 3D structure of atmospheric turbulence and many deformable mirrors that each correct the projected turbulence towards one specific patch. This article reports the first demonstration that the technique works on a real telescope, using the CANARY demonstrator on the William Herschel Telescope with triplets of bright natural guide stars. This is a major breakthrough in the field of AO, and it validates the concept of several instruments proposed for 30-40m class telescopes.