3-D plot of the artificially dimmed star HIC 74324 (without and with AO correction)

This 3-D plot demonstrates the correction performance of MACAO-VLTI when using a faint guide star. The observed star (HIC 74324 (stellar spectral type G0 and visual magnitude 9.4) was artificially dimmed by a neutral optical filter to visual magnitude 16.5. The observation was carried out in 0.55 arcsec seeing and with a rather short atmospheric correlation time of 3 milliseconds at visible wavelengths. The Strehl ratio in the 25-second K-band exposure is about 10% and the FWHM is 0.14 arcseconds. The uncorrected image is shown to the left for comparison. The improvement is again impressive, even for a star as faint as this, indicating that guide stars of this magnitude are feasible during future observations.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0313f
Type:Simulation
Release date:13 May 2003
Related releases:eso0313
Size:1427 x 964 px

About the Object

Name:HIC 74324
Type:Milky Way : Star
Category:Stars

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