Partial correction for turbulent distortions in telescopes

Appl Opt. 1998 Jul 20;37(21):4561-8. doi: 10.1364/ao.37.004561.

Abstract

To provide complete compensation for turbulent distortions in the visible range at aperture dimensions typical for modern telescopes (6-10 m), one needs to develop adaptive systems with hundreds of control channels. More simple adaptive systems that provide complete compensation in the infrared range can give an essential advantage in angular resolution in the visible range too. In this case the image brightness characterized by the Strehl ratio remains much less than that in the diffraction-limited case, i.e., the system provides only partial compensation. We present the results of numerical calculations of the partially corrected point-spread function and discuss possible approaches to composing the adaptive system configuration.