Atmospheric optics is the study of optical effects induced by the atmosphere on light propagating from distant sources. Of particular concern to astronomers is atmospheric turbulence, which limits the performance of ground-based telescopes. The past two decades have seen remarkable growth in the capabilities and performance of adaptive optics (AO) systems. These opto-mechanical systems actively compensate for the blurring effect of the Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. By sensing, and correcting, wavefront distortion introduced by atmospheric index-of-refraction variations, AO systems can produce images with resolution approaching the diffraction limit of the telescope at near-infrared wavelengths. This review highlights the physical processes and fundamental relations of atmospheric optics that are most relevant to astronomy, and discusses the techniques used to characterize atmospheric turbulence. The fundamentals of AO are then introduced and the many types of advanced AO systems that have been developed are described. The principles of each are outlined, and the performance and limitations are examined. Aspects of photometric and astrometric measurements of AO-corrected images are considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the challenges related to current and future AO systems, particularly those that will equip the next generation of large, ground-based optical and infrared telescopes.

中文翻译：

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大气和自适应光学

大气光学是研究大气对从远处传播的光产生的光学效应。天文学家特别关注的是大气湍流，它限制了地面望远镜的性能。在过去的二十年里，自适应光学 (AO) 系统的能力和性能有了显着的增长。这些光机系统主动补偿地球湍流大气的模糊效应。通过感应和校正大气折射率变化引起的波前畸变，AO 系统可以生成分辨率接近望远镜在近红外波长处衍射极限的图像。这篇综述强调了与天文学最相关的大气光学的物理过程和基本关系，并讨论用于表征大气湍流的技术。然后介绍 AO 的基础知识，并描述已开发的多种类型的高级 AO 系统。概述了每个原理，并检查了性能和限制。考虑了 AO 校正图像的光度和天体测量方面。本文最后讨论了与当前和未来 AO 系统相关的一些挑战，特别是那些将装备下一代大型地面光学和红外望远镜的挑战。考虑了 AO 校正图像的光度和天体测量方面。本文最后讨论了与当前和未来 AO 系统相关的一些挑战，特别是那些将装备下一代大型地面光学和红外望远镜的挑战。考虑了 AO 校正图像的光度和天体测量方面。本文最后讨论了与当前和未来 AO 系统相关的一些挑战，特别是那些将装备下一代大型地面光学和红外望远镜的挑战。