Colliding Galaxies and the Human Retina
The Society of Physics Students at UCSC PRESENTS:
A General Meeting: “A Sharper Image: Adaptive Optics and Laser Guide Stars for Astronomy and Human Vision Applications“
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Place: ISB 231
SPS is pleased to present professor Claire E. Max of the the Astronomy and Astrophysics Dept. http://www.ucolick.org/~max/max-web/Max.v2.html
This week she will talk about Adaptive Optics and Laser Guide Stars for Astronomy and Human Vision Applications, in her own words:
Adaptive Optics is a technology that detects and corrects changing distortions in optical systems.. It has been applied to great effect during the past decade for correcting astronomical telescopes for blurring due to turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere, and for imaging the living human retina. This talk will describe the history of Adaptive Optics (AO) and laser guide stars, give a status report on their current technology, and describe some scientific highlights: close-up views of black holes in colliding galaxies, and imaging of three dimensional structures in the living human retina.