These razor sharp images of galaxies millions of light years from Earth have been produced by a remote observatory thanks to a brand new instrument. The adaptive optics system, called ‘GeMS’, helps remove atmospheric distortion – or blurriness – when taking pictures of space, making images of much clearer. It took scientists more than a decade to develop and is now in regular use by the Gemini South Observatory located in Chile. The observatory has released a collection of razor sharp images to show off its capabilities. They include stunning shots of far off colliding galaxies and violent star-forming regions. The images are so much clearer than before thanks to a combination of multiple lasers and mirrors which remove haze from ground-based images. This combination also allows the observatory to take shots of an area of sky 10 to 20-times greater than before, with pictures appearing completely crisp.
In the future the GeMS system will allow astronomers to explore deeper parts of the universe, picking out segments that have never before been seen. Robert Blum, Deputy Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, said: ‘The images are truly spectacular. ‘What we have seen so far signals an incredible capability that leaps ahead of anything in space or on the ground – and it will for some time.’ Benoit Neichel, who oversaw the GeMS commissioning effort in Chile, said: ‘Each image tells a story about the scientific potential of GeMS.’ Tim Davidge, an astronomer at Canada’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, said: ‘GeMS sets the new cool in adaptive optics. ‘It opens up all sorts of exciting science possibilities for Gemini, while also demonstrating technology that is essential for the next generation of ground-based mega-telescopes. ‘With GeMS we are entering a radically new, and awesome, era for ground-based optical astronomy.’ Stuart Ryder, of the Australian Astronomical Observatory, said: ‘I was fortunate enough to witness GeMS in action and was awestruck by the sight of the yellow-orange laser beam piercing the clear, moonlit night. ‘When one considers all the factors that have to work together, from clear skies, to a steady stream of meteors burning up in the upper atmosphere sprinkling enough sodium atoms to be excited by the laser – it’s wonderful to see it all come together.’
