Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD)

Adaptive optics is a technique that uses one reference star to correct the blurring effect of the turbulence, restoring the sharpness of the images over a tiny patch around that star. With Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics, several stars are used (3 in the case of MAD) to compensate for the turbulence over a much larger field of view. MAD is the first instrument that achieved this goal. It has been installed on MELIPAL (UT3) for several missions over 2007 and 2008.