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Nuevo y potente láser pasa prueba clave
ESO aprueba el primer láser de sodio de 22 watts para su Sistema de Óptica Adaptativa
24 de Marzo de 2014
Un nuevo láser de 22 watts acaba de ser aprobado por los proveedores TOPTICA y MPB, tras casi cinco años de incesantes esfuerzos y trabajo en conjunto (ver ann1045, ann1048, ann11039, ann12012 y ESOcast 34). Este formará parte del Sistema de Óptica Adaptativa del Very Large Telescope de ESO [1]. El láser y otras cuatro unidades similares (incluyendo una de repuesto), que serán entregadas con posterioridad, constituyen elementos fundamentales para la nueva instalación, lo que hace de esta aceptación un enorme avance en el proyecto.
Hace cinco años, las posibilidades de obtener láseres de alto rendimiento y potencia, en un formato compacto que se adecuara a las necesidades del Sistema de Óptica Adaptativa, eran extremadamente limitadas. Pero hoy en día, las nuevas tecnologías y los avances e investigaciones especializadas han cambiado este escenario.
Después de tres meses de pruebas de validación llevadas a cabo en ESO, el equipo del proyecto se mostró muy complacido con el desempeño del nuevo hardware, lo que permite pensar que en un futuro podrá operar de manera simple y estable en el VLT. Esto es crucial debido a que estos láseres se emplearán cada vez que se realice una observación con el Sistema de Óptica Adaptativa.
El nuevo diseño del láser además hará uso de una técnica especial destinada a mejorar la luminosidad de la estrella guía artificial que se genera en la capa de átomos de sodio a 90 kilómetros de altitud en la atmósfera terrestre[2]; característica única nunca antes empleada de manera rutinaria en un centro de observación de gran envergadura.
El Sistema de Óptica Adaptativa utiliza sensores para analizar la turbulencia atmosférica, así como un espejo deformable integrado en el telescopio para corregir las distorsiones que genera este fenómeno en las imágenes. Sin embargo, se requiere que una estrella de gran luminosidad, similar a un punto en el cielo, se encuentre cerca con el fin de medir la turbulencia. Esta debe estar lo más próxima posible al objeto celeste a ser estudiado.
Encontrar una estrella real que cumpla esta función es muy poco factible. Por lo que para lograr corregir la turbulencia atmosférica en cualquier área del Universo y para todo objeto en estudio, los ingenieros pensaron en lanzar un poderoso rayo láser hacia el cielo para crear una estrella artificial. Al medir los movimientos y distorsiones observadas de esta estrella artificial, y hacer pequeños ajustes al espejo secundario deformable, el telescopio puede producir imágenes con una nitidez muy superior a las obtenidas sin el uso de óptica adaptativa.
El nuevo láser alcanza 22 watts de potencia, lo que suena bastante modesto en comparación a las bombillas normales, pero cuando se emite de manera coherente el haz adquiere gran intensidad (y una potencia suficiente como para requerir medidas especiales de seguridad durante su operación). El desafío de estos láseres es producir de manera eficiente la luz en la longitud de onda necesaria para crear la estrella artificial [3].
El rendimiento de estos nuevos láseres, una vez que estén en funcionamiento en el telescopio, será de interés para futuros proyectos como el European Extremely Large Telescope, el que también requiere múltiples unidades de estrellas guías láser.
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