Distributed Astronomy

prostoalex writes "Scientists at Gemini Observatory are using Internet2 to link telescopes worldwide and receive images that they say are sharper than those coming from Hubble."

Comments

Link to news item at observatory

[PD]

right here

It is worthwhile to note that the internet link is a separate issue from the sharpness. All the internet link does is allow researchers to use the scopes and return a lot of data quickly, reducing the need to travel to the telescope to observe with it. All of astronomy is moving in this direction, because these very expensive instruments must be utilized efficiently.

The sharpness of this scope comes from the very large mirror (8 meters) and the adaptive optics installed on it. The photos would be just as sharp even without the internet connection.

Re:I remember something similar.

[Peter T Ermit]

By linking multiple observatories, you can do neat tricks like interferometry. One advantage you get is that your effective mirror/antenna size becomes considerably larger than the little mirrors/antennae that make up the array -- it's a function of how far apart the antennae are rather than the size of the individual elements, which is why a few hundred yards of separation can make a huge difference. The VLT uses this idea, as does the VLBI. Holograms are related in the sense that they exploit phase information of light just as interferometers do.

Re:I remember something similar.

[zer0vector]

Its all based on the Rayleigh Criteria, which describes the resolution of an imaging system. Basically theta=1.22*lambda/diameter. Where theta is the smallest resolvable angular separation, and lambda is the wavelenght you are observing at.