October 1, 2016
Cosmos Editorial
Y. Beletsky (LCO) / ESO
Taken from inside the dome of the fourth Unit Telescope of European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, this spectacular shot captures the Laser Guide Star in action.
By creating a glowing spot – an artificial star – in the Earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of 90 kilometres, the light coming back from the laser can be used as a reference to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion. This allows the telescope to produce astronomical images almost as sharp as if the telescope were in space.
