Editing Adaptive optics (section)

{{Short description|Technique used in optical systems}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
[[File:Adaptive optics.gif|thumb|The wavefront of an aberrated image (left) can be measured using a wavefront sensor (center) and then corrected for using a deformable mirror (right).|300x300px]]

'''Adaptive optics''' ('''AO''') is a technique of precisely deforming a mirror in order to compensate for light distortion. It is used in [[Astronomy|astronomical]] [[telescope]]s<ref>
{{cite journal
|last=Beckers
|first=J.M.
|title=Adaptive Optics for Astronomy: Principles, Performance, and Applications
|journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics
|date=1993
|volume=31
|issue=1
|pages=13–62
|doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.31.090193.000305
|bibcode = 1993ARA&A..31...13B
}}</ref> and laser communication systems to remove the effects of [[Astronomical seeing|atmospheric distortion]], in microscopy,<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Booth
|first=Martin J
|title=Adaptive optics in microscopy
|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
|date=15 December 2007
|volume=365
|issue=1861
|pages=2829–2843
|doi=10.1098/rsta.2007.0013
|pmid=17855218
|url=http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/som/publications/som_2007_5%20-1.PDF
|access-date=30 November 2012
|bibcode=2007RSPTA.365.2829B
|s2cid=123094060
|archive-date=26 September 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926201709/http://www2.eng.ox.ac.uk/som/publications/som_2007_5%20-1.PDF
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> [[optical fabrication]]<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Booth
|first=Martin J.
|author2=Schwertner, Michael
|author3=Wilson, Tony
|author4=Nakano, Masaharu
|author5=Kawata, Yoshimasa
|author6=Nakabayashi, Masahito
|author7=Miyata, Sou
|title=Predictive aberration correction for multilayer optical data storage
|journal=Applied Physics Letters
|date=1 January 2006
|volume=88
|issue=3
|pages=031109
|doi=10.1063/1.2166684
|url=http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/som/publications/som_2006_1.PDF
|access-date=30 November 2012
|bibcode=2006ApPhL..88c1109B
|archive-date=26 September 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926211705/http://www2.eng.ox.ac.uk/som/publications/som_2006_1.PDF
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> and in [[retina]]l imaging systems<ref>
{{cite book
|last1=Roorda
|first1=A
|last2=Williams
|first2=DR
|chapter=Retinal imaging using adaptive optics
|editor1-last=MacRae
|editor1-first=S
|editor2-last=Krueger
|editor2-first=R
|editor3-last=Applegate
|editor3-first=RA
|title=Customized Corneal Ablation: The Quest for SuperVision
|isbn=978-1-55642-625-4
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEjWhMo-yosC&pg=PA43
|pages=11–32
|date=2001
|publisher=SLACK, Inc.
}}</ref> to reduce [[optical aberration]]s. Adaptive optics works by measuring the distortions in a [[wavefront]] and compensating for them with a device that corrects those errors such as a [[deformable mirror]] or a [[liquid crystal]] array.

Adaptive optics should not be confused with [[active optics]], which work on a longer timescale to correct the primary mirror geometry.

Other methods can achieve resolving power exceeding the limit imposed by atmospheric distortion, such as [[speckle imaging]], [[aperture synthesis]], and [[lucky imaging]], or by moving outside the atmosphere with [[space-based telescope|space telescopes]], such as the [[Hubble Space Telescope]].