Adaptive Optics Primer

• AO Science drivers: The Gemini mission
   
• What is AO ? How does it work ?
  There are lots of sites around the world that give a good introduction to AO. Among others:
  • A tutorial by Andrei Tokovinin at CTIO
  • This is a nice article on active and adaptive optics written by L.Noethe and N.Hubin from ESO
  • This site maintained by the AO group at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. has an extensive list of AO links
  • There are also a couple of good monographs on Adaptive Optics. For instance:
  • F.Roddier's edited "Adaptive Optics for Astronomy", Cambridge University Press, 1999
  • J. Hardy, "Adaptive Optics for Astronomical Telescopes", Oxford University Press, 1998
• Observing with AO at Gemini
  
  • Consult our pages on Altair, available for natural and laser guide star science with NIFS and NIRI.
    
  • You may also be interested in the former visiting AO instrument, Hokupa'a
   
• The atmosphere: Seeing campaigns

Last update February 26, 2008; Rachel Mason