July 12, 2010: Anamorphic Art

[Lamplighter]

OK, if you start with this:



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... and you get a little closer to understanding the "Adaptive Optics" technologies
that are coming to maturity in astronomy, particularly at the Keck Observatory in Arizona...

Here is distorted infrared light coming from Uranus (left) improved via "AO" (right)
For Sharpest Views, Scope The Sky With Quick-Change Mirrors
NPR - June 24, 2013



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... and that lets you see the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.




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Actuallly, the technical development was the reverse, starting with the US military wanting
to actually "really see" Russian satellites in case they were carrying weapons.
The AO technology was declassified so astronomers could take advantage of it.


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