A ground-layer adaptive optics system with multiple laser guide stars

The massive young star clusters near the centre of our Galaxy are prime targets for the study of star formation. There are currently no space-based infrared telescopes with the combination of high resolution and wide field of view needed for the purpose, but in theory, a ground-based telescope fitted with sophisticated ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) should be up to the task. Now, researchers working at the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins in Arizona have demonstrated that with recent upgrades, including the use of multiple laser guide stars, they have such a system. In observations of the core of the globular cluster M3, they obtained wide-field resolution more than double that obtained previously. Entire stellar clusters may be examined in a single pointing. Installation of this newly developed GLAO package on more, and larger, telescopes should provide a new flow of data on the mechanisms of star formation.