First light for the Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System

February 14, 2012 - SPIE Newsroom
A new generation of adaptive optics has started to produce the first-ever high-angular resolution images over a larger field of view.
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Defeating Hubble, from the ground!

February 2, 2012 - ScienceBlogs.com
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Just a couple of months ago, Gemini South Observatory released their first light image from GeMS/GSAOI, the world's most advanced adaptive optics system, attached to the 8-meter Gemini Telescope. And wouldn't you know which object they happened to take a look at for their very first image?
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A Telescope as Sharp as Hubble — but on the Ground Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2105816,00.html#ixzz1lpCFwBCL

February 2, 2012 - Time.com
Most people think that the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is the most powerful stargazing system in the world. It's understandable, given the astounding images and spectacular science the instrument has been delivering since it went into full operation back in 1993.

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But there's another way: a technology known as adaptive optics (AO) can de-blur the vision of a ground-based telescope — and astronomers at the 26-ish-foot (8-ish-meter) Gemini South telescope in Chile have debuted the most powerful AO system to date. According to astronomer Francois Rigaut, who led the team that built the new hardware, its images rival the Hubble's for sharpness, and in a press release, Matt Mountain, director of the Hubble's home base, the Space Telescope Science Institute, called the image quality "incredible."

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Gemini optics show unprecedented views of stars

January 20, 2012 - msnbc.com
Stars viewed by an observatory in South America have just lost their twinkle. Images from this ground-based telescope are brighter and clearer than ever before, thanks to a new instrument on the Gemini South observatory that reduces the blurring, or twinkle, caused by Earth's atmosphere.
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Telescope Gets New Gear to Bring Stars Into Focus

January 19, 2012 - Space.com
Stars viewed by an observatory in South America have just lost their twinkle. Images from this ground-based telescope are brighter and clearer than ever before, thanks to a new instrument on the Gemini South observatory that reduces the blurring, or twinkle, caused by Earth's atmosphere.
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Gemini Adaptive Optics System Revolutionizes Astrophotography

January 9, 2012 - Universe Today
When it comes to astrophotography, most of us would think that space-based telescopes like the Hubble are the epitome of imagining. However, there’s something new to be said about being “grounded”. On December 16, 2011, the Gemini South telescope in Chile revealed its first wide-field, ultra-sharp image… the product of a decade of hard work. By employing a new generation of adaptive optics (AO), the scope produced an incredible look into the densely concentrated globular cluster, NGC 288, and captured stars at close to the theoretical resolution limit of Gemini’s massive 8-meter mirror.
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Gemini Observatory's revolutionary instrument propels astronomical imaging to new extremes

January 6, 2012 - Astronomy.com
On December 16, 2011, a decade of hard work culminated at the Gemini South telescope in Chile when a next-generation adaptive optics (AO) system produced its first ultra-sharp wide-field image. The first target image showed a portion of a dense cluster of stars called NGC 288. This first-light image reveals details at nearly the theoretical limit of Gemini’s 8-meter mirror over an unprecedented large patch of the night sky.
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