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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/astro-adaptive-optics

How does adaptive optics undo the blurring caused by Earth's turbulent air?

A flexible mirror changes shape hundreds of times a second.

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  1. It moves the telescope above the atmosphere
  2. A flexible mirror reshapes to cancel the distortion ✔
  3. Software averages many blurry photos later

Why: A sensor measures how the air has distorted the image, and a small flexible mirror in the light path bends to cancel it, as often as 500 times per second. It works best in the infrared.

Huh, didn't know that: Astronomers call the twinkling blur from turbulent air bad seeing.

The dad joke
Adaptive optics: a mirror that's always flexible about your plans.
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References

Answer: A flexible mirror reshapes to cancel the distortion. A sensor measures how the air has distorted the image, and a small flexible mirror in the light path bends to cancel it, as often as 500 times per second. It works best in the infrared.

  1. OpenStax Astronomy 2e, 6.2 Telescopes Today openstax.org/books/astronomy-2e/pages/6-2-telescopes-today
    as often as 500 times per second, it sends instructions to the flexible mirror on how to change shape
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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