Rosatom-Developed Adaptive Optical System to Help Astronomers Obtain Clear Images of Space

Scientists from the National Center for Physics and Mathematics (NCPM) and Rosatom have devised an adaptive optical system that, thanks to its record-breaking speed, compensates for the influence of atmospheric distortions on laser radiation. The development will help to obtain clearer images during astronomical observations.

What is the difficulty of astronomical observations?

The Earth's atmosphere is characterized by turbulence (a property in which pressure, temperature, speed, and wind direction change in the atmosphere), which reduces the focusing of laser radiation on an object. This also limits the resolution of telescopes when receiving images from space.

According to the scientific director of the NCPM, Alexander Sergeev, programmable logic integrated circuits (FPGAs) were used to create the adaptive optical system. They process images faster than processors.

Thanks to FPGAs, the speed of the adaptive optical system in experiments in a closed space increased to 4 kHz, and in real conditions to a spacecraft - more than 2 kHz.

The development will also help to effectively focus laser radiation to achieve exawatt power at the Center for Extreme Light Field Studies of the NCPM. It will be needed as part of the work with advanced laser technologies and a "megascience" class installation in fundamental research.