Space Camera Takes Sharpest Photos Of Night Sky

August 23, 2013

A camera recently developed by astronomers at the University of Arizona and two observatories has already lead to new space discoveries.  

telescope The Magellan Telescope's mirrors (Photo courtesy of Laird Close)

U of A astronomy professor Laird Close said the camera will allow astronomers to take the sharpest images of the night sky to date, twice as sharp as images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

"So when you look up at the night sky, you see stars twinkle," Close said. "When we turn on the adaptive optics camera, the twinkling stops and the stars become absolutely rock solid and they get as sharp as their theoretical limit allows." 

Laird said the images will allow astronomers to better understand parts of a star, like its orbital motion and even discover new planets.

The camera is located at the Magellan Telescope in Chile.