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ESO's Very Large Telescope Now Delivers Images Sharper Than Hubble (eso.org)
ffkom shares an excerpt from a press release via the European Southern Observatory: ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has achieved first light with a new adaptive optics mode called laser tomography -- and has captured remarkably sharp test images of the planet Neptune, star clusters and other objects. The pioneering MUSE instrument in Narrow-Field Mode, working with the GALACSI adaptive optics module, can now use this new technique to correct for turbulence at different altitudes in the atmosphere. It is now possible to capture images from the ground at visible wavelengths that are sharper than those from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The combination of exquisite image sharpness and the spectroscopic capabilities of MUSE will enable astronomers to study the properties of astronomical objects in much greater detail than was possible before.
The achievement is that due to adaptive optics, an earth based telescope can deliver pictures as sharp or sharper than a space based telescope.
Close. What it proves is that we have advanced technology enough that an Earth based telescope can deliver pictures sharper than the Hubble. One cannot generalize this to all space based telescopes since we are now capable of creating space telescopes that exceed the capabilities of Hubble. Remember Hubble was launched in 1990 so it's basically 1980s technology and things have progressed since then.