3D Rendering of Gemini North’s Adaptive Optics Bench

This rendering shows the planned design of the Gemini North telescope’s new Adaptive Optics Bench (AOB). The AOB serves as a sub-component of the larger Gemini North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) facility that will make Gemini North the premier site for high-resolution astronomy for the International Gemini Observatory partnership. In November 2023 Macquarie University's Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) team was selected to lead the development, construction and installation of the AOB.

The white beam represents the light coming from the telescope (from the top left) that has been distorted by the atmosphere. The green beam is light passing through a sensor that measures the shape of the distortion. The red beam is the light after a deformable mirror has corrected the distortion. The beam then exits (middle left) and goes back to the telescope. The corrected light has higher resolution (images are sharper with more detail) and greater sensitivity (fainter and more distant objects can be seen).