Research and Development for Atmospheric Turbulence Compensation with Laser Guide Star

Adaptive optics in astronomy has opened a new era especially for a ground-based 8 to 10 m telescopes. The effect of atmospheric turbulence is no longer restriction to achieve a diffraction limited spatial resolution for large telescopes. Stellar image size has been improved by a factor of more than 10. Further, laser guide star adaptive optics expands the possibility to observe the sky area, where no bright star can be found as a reference source of measuring a wavefront. This article introduces a basic concept of laser guide star adaptive optics, laser system and a system components to create a laser beacon, hybrid control system of laser guide star adaptive optics with tip-tilt and focus natural guide stars, laser safety operation to protect aircrafts and satellites, as well as to avoid a contamination to the adjacent telescopes.