Piezosystem Jena awards scholarship for adaptive optics used in ground-based telescopes

Hopedale, MA--Piezosystem Jena disbursed a $1500 scholarship grant to Andrew Denio of California State University at Northridge to support his research into developing computer algorithms to control piezoelectrically driven mirrors as part of an adapative optical system that is being developed for ground-based telescopes.

Denio’s research is part of an effort headed by Deqing Ren to construct a portable solar adaptive optic system (PSAO) for telescopes that will correct for atmospheric turbulences during observations of the sun.

Once complete the system should be applicable to ground-based telescopes such as the 1.5 m McMath-Pierce telescope (McMP) that is currently accessible to the solar community, as well as the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory and the 1.5 m Gregor solar telescope located in Spain.

--Posted by Gail Overton; [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com.