Near infra-red astronomy with adaptive optics and laser guide stars at the Keck Observatory

摘要

A laser guide star adaptive optics system is being built for the W. M. Keck Observatory's 10-meter Keck II telescope. Two new near infra-red instruments will be used with this system: a high-resolution camera (NIRC 2) and an echelle spectrometer (NIRSPEC). The authors describe the expected capabilities of these instruments for high-resolution astronomy, using adaptive optics with either a natural star or a sodium-layer laser guide star as a reference. They compare the expected performance of these planned Keck adaptive optics instruments with that predicted for the NICMOS near infra-red camera, which is scheduled to be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997.