Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Sep 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005stard..33e...4p&link_type=abstract
StarDate magazine, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 4-9
Physics
Optics
Atmospheric Effects, Instrumentation: Interferometers, Telescopes, Stars: Imaging
Scientific paper
Earth's atmosphere has always been an obstacle for astronomers and their telescopes to overcome. Locating on a mountaintop helps, but not enough. Adaptive optics evolved to compensate for the shifting masses of air that distort viewing. Astronomers use a guide star to adjust the telescope's focus. However, guide stars must be bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye. Some areas of the sky do not have stars bright enough to do the job, so now astronomers are creating artificial guide stars with laser beams. The laser beam projected into the sky excites the atoms of sodium found in a layer of the Earth's atmosphere, causing them to glow. The pinpoint of light serves as an artificial guide star. Another obstacle for astronomers is the high cost of building telescopes. To avoid these escalating coasts, scientists are linking telescopes together to study star-forming regions, to measure the actual sizes of stars, and to search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. Interferometry is a technique that turns a group of telescopes into a single telescope. Such an array allows telescopes to deliver extremely detailed view of distant objects that might not otherwise be seen with a single telescope. Radio astronomers have used interferometry for decades; now optical astronomers are using the same techniques to study specific stars in distant galaxies and to search for planets in clouds of gas and dust. Other astronomers are overcoming the atmosphere by studying the atmosphere itself. "Space weather" events, such as solar winds in the Earth's ionosphere, can create dazzling auroral displays in the northern and southern latitudes, disrupt satellite electronics, and interfere with Earth-based communication networks and power grids. Space-weather specialists use GPS data to monitor the near-Earth space and send out alerts when radiation storms threaten our planet. They also collect data for a greater understanding of the long-term behavior of the ionosphere, one of the last frontiers in the near-Earth environment.
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