A laser star shines bright

An artificial star now shines above the

(ESO) in Paranal, home of the Very Large Telescope (VLT), allowing astronomers to better allow for the optical effects of the atmosphere.

The laser-produced image helps the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT to obtain images free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere, regardless of the brightness and the location on the sky of the observed target.

Adaptive optics requires a nearby reference star that has to be relatively bright, limiting the area of the sky that can be surveyed. To surmount this limitation, Paranal astronomers now a powerful laser that creates an artificial star, where and when they need it.

Two of the Adaptive Optics (AO) science instruments at the Paranal observatory, NACO and SINFONI, have been upgraded to work with the recently installed Laser Guide Star (LGS) and have delivered their first scientific results. This achievement opens astronomers' access to a wealth of new targets to be studied under the sharp eyes of AO.