Abstract

The first astronomical results obtained at the ESO 3.6 m telescope with the Come-On adaptive optics system demonstrated the impressive potential of this technique [1,2,3], A second generation of this system [4], called Come-On-Plus, has since been developed and tested at La Silla observatory [5], It is now the only system of this kind offered as a standard instrument to the European astronomical community. Nevertheless, adaptive optics remains a high technology technique which uses complex technology. Although the Come-On and Come-On-Plus systems have operated very smoothly during numerous observing runs since 1990, a fairly large team of qualified personnel was required to operate the whole system. Several instrumental parameters have to be optimised according to astronomical requirements and prevailing atmospheric conditions. These include the magnitude and colour of the reference star, the wavelength of the observed object and its angular separation from the reference, and the atmospheric turbulence profile. With the previous Come-On-Plus system this optimisation was difficult to achieve and has given rise to somewhat inefficient use of telescope time. The experience gained with this system has led to the concept of ADONIS (ADaptive Optics Near Infrared System), which is intended to improve the performance, versatility and operational efficiency. A further general objective is to develop operational procedures and to test technical concepts that can be later applied to the adaptive optics system for the ESO Very Large Telescope.

© 1995 Optical Society of America