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RSAA News of the Month: September 2006

New camera improves view from Earth for astronomers

Simon Couper, ANU Media Office

 

Earthbound astronomers are a step closer to capturing images of space that rival in detail and size those obtained with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, thanks to a new camera created at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA).

The Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) was designed and built by engineers at the RSAA. The multi-million dollar camera will be shipped to the eight metre diameter Gemini South telescope in Chile on 4 October.

The Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI)

"Star light often looks blurred when we observe it here on Earth, because the rays of lights from these distant suns are affected by the dynamic turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere," GSAOI project scientist Dr Peter McGregor said. "As a result, a large telescope magnifies the blurring, so stars appear like indistinct blobs."

The Gemini Observatory has a major program underway to develop a wide-field adaptive optics system that will correct this blur over a region of sky as large as is obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. GSAOI is the near-infrared camera that will work with the Gemini system to record these images.

"It will be the commissioning instrument for Gemini's new Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics system so it had to be ready before the MCAO system comes together in early 2007," Dr McGregor said.

The Gemini South Telescope in Chile

Adaptive optics is commonly used on the world's largest telescopes, such as the twin Gemini telescopes to which Australian astronomers have access. Previously it has been possible to produce extremely sharp images over only a small area of the sky, but MCAO will do this over a much larger region. The GSAOI camera includes a highly sophisticated wide-field digital imaging detector in order to accommodate this large field.

"RSAA leads the world in developing sophisticated near-infrared detector systems for astronomy" GSAOI Project Manager Dr Matt Doolan said. "GSAOI uses a mosaic of four detectors that were designed originally for the Next Generation Space Telescope."

GSAOI has been under development at RSAA since 2002. A team of 12 astronomers and engineers have been involved in its design, construction, and testing.

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