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(Edit) Four Laser Guide Star Facility in the Atacama


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Yes, it does. Otherwise no AO system as they relied on the false star created by the beam. Though possibly it's a long exposure so reduce the magnitude a bit.

That being said, best way to get there... Go with a tour group ? Or apply as ESO researcher but that also requires decent knowledge of the things.

Edited by YNM
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7 hours ago, KerbMav said:

Ahm ... are the beams really THAT visible?

Nope. It's clearly a long exposure/contrast-stretched/both, just look how many stars there are and how bright the background colour is.

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On 4/29/2016 at 7:31 PM, sevenperforce said:

But not too long or the stars would be star trails.

That's why we use more sensitive sensors, to cut down the exposure time and get the same thing.

 

Also, I wonder how do they keep the sharks so still...

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4 minutes ago, lajoswinkler said:

Also, I wonder how do they keep the sharks so still...

They don't.

Instead they use microscopic laser sharks inside tiny tanks, and what we see is actually created from vicious battles between these sharks for dominance, their laser captured by optics and combined into the beams we see.

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9 minutes ago, DolphinDude3 said:

What would happen if you did place your hand in front of the laser?

http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/develop/4LGSF.html

The site quotes the laser power as 22 W, which is a fair bit, however, Wikipedia article also states that the diameter of each of the laser beams is 30 cm. That means it would be perfectly safe to place your hand in front of it.

Don't point the beam directly into your eyes, though.

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