Why is there a laser beam shooting out of the front of this telescope (in the inset picture)?
Why is there a laser beam shooting out of the front of this telescope (in the inset picture)?
Elements Of Electromagnetics
7th Edition
ISBN:9780190698614
Author:Sadiku, Matthew N. O.
Publisher:Sadiku, Matthew N. O.
ChapterMA: Math Assessment
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1.1MA
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Question
These images show one of the large `VLT’ telescopes at the European Southern Observatory’s facility at Cerro Paranal, Chile. The place where the laser beam comes out (seen in the inset photo) is just out of sight off of the top edge of the large photo. Also note that if you look down the telescope tube (in the main photo), you can see the tube’s front-end structure.
Why is there a laser beam shooting out of the front of this telescope (in the inset picture)?
Group of answer choices
The beam creates an `artificial star’, which is used by an adaptive-optics system to measure (and counteract) the blurring effect of Earth’s atmosphere.
The astronomers are bouncing light off of objects near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, to measure their distances from Earth.
The astronomers are taking pictures of the surface of a planet (most likely Mars), and the laser allows them to light up the planet’s surface with a very specific color of light.
The astronomers are engaged in the opening phases of a war with a race of beings that live on a planet orbiting the supermassive black hole at our galaxy’s center.
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