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arXiv · astro-ph/0010129

Diffraction Limited Imaging of High Redshift Galaxies with Adaptive Optics

Abstract

The major cornerstone of future ground-based astronomy is imaging and spectroscopy at the diffraction limit using adaptive optics. To exploit the potential of current AO systems, we have begun a survey around bright stars to study intermediate redshift galaxies at high resolution. Using ALFA to reach the diffraction limit of the 3.5-m telescope at Calar Alto allows us to study the structure of distant galaxies in the near-infrared at scales of 100-150 pc for z=0.05 and at scales 1.0-1.5 kpc at z=1. In this contribution we present the initial results of this project, which hint at the exciting prospects possible with the resolution and sensitivity available using an AO camera on the 8-m class VLT.

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R. I. Davies, M. Lehnert, A. J. Baker, S. Rabien. 2000-10-06. Diffraction Limited Imaging of High Redshift Galaxies with Adaptive Optics. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0010129

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